


Dawn and Dusk Support

by EriiErii



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Knotting, M/M, Marking, Mpreg, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Polyamory, Transformation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2020-10-19 17:20:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 71,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20660882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EriiErii/pseuds/EriiErii
Summary: Following a surprise attack from Loki, the dragon blood Ryoma and Xander inherited from the Dawn and Dusk dragons awoken to transform them into dragons themselves. However, after Kiran falls under a similar ambush from Loki in trying to rescue them, all three learned the hard way how the ambushes changed things for their relationship. The three of them not only have to navigate the good and bad of these newfound changes, but do so while enemies familiar or otherwise rise up to threaten The Order of Heroes.





	1. Unearthed Legacy

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! For post updates, questions, art and general random silliness in between, check me out at eriisaam.tumblr.com for more!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains spoilers for Fire Emblem Fates, Radiant Dawn and Heroes.

Ryoma glared bitterly, but steeled himself. Even if he didn't bring Raijinto out from his convoy, he didn't need to. These pests weren't worth the honor of matching blades with him. Normally, he wouldn't have been so arrogant and fussy of such, except where a moment ago he was about to seize the opportunity set up by the him of another realm, now he was forced to battle intruders in little else but his formal yukata. Besides, be it from their guards lowering fighting a seemingly unarmed man or otherwise, they went down just as well against his fan, particularly when Ryoma had enough strength to cut them down with them from sheer force alone.

As he ignored the latest victim of his fan as they crumbled to their knees, throat cut open and skull bashed in out of mercy not to slowly drown to death instead, Ryoma rushed onward in search of either of his two lovers. Xander, he was certain, can hold his own, much as Ryoma had his occasional worries of him overdoing it, but he worried especially over Kiran. As much as he and Xander tried their best to teach him how to defend himself in different manners, to do so in a casual atmosphere, and more, in a yukata, left him even more panicked for his safety.

"Tch! Do you believe I'll be _that_ easy to defeat?"

Thankfully, he found one of them in short order. And Ryoma's confidence was well-placed, especially when Xander left very little mystery in what he did to his pursuers with his own fan. Then again, for someone who had enough innate strength to weaponize a giant inflatable doll based on Lilith's dragon form, he wasn't entirely surprised. He was grateful in hindsight for Kiran's suggestion for them to wear accessories to tell them apart from the Ryoma and Xander who were native here, telling immediately this Xander was his from the golden eyepatch-esque mask he wore over one of his eyes while Xander perked likewise at the sight of fox ears poking out from Ryoma's hair.

"Ryoma, there you are! Have you seen Kiran anywhere?"

"Not yet. You're the first I found since the ambush. With any luck, hopefully he'll stay close to Ike and the others..."

"Hopefully. But I'm sure even you've noticed the majority of reinforcements seem to file in from here, yes?"

"Indeed. But the question is... why?"

"For now, if we cut them off, Ike and the others can finish off whoever already arrived at the plaza."

As reluctant as Xander was to leave Kiran to fend for himself, wherever he was at the moment in this currently tense, hostile world, he also realized with heavy reluctance that not only were he and Ryoma fighting at a disadvantage, but to try to find Kiran now would just lead more enemy soldiers straight to him. Ryoma had a look of resignation to him that immediately tipped Xander off that he had similar thoughts.

"We did our best to train him. I'm sure he's capable of hanging on just a bit longer, just as you taught Corrin and Kamui. If we act quick enough, we can hurry and catch up to him after, to be sure."

While Xander agreed anyways, however willing or otherwise, the two were interrupted when more soldiers emerged from deeper in the forest. Perhaps as a good sign the reinforcements already dwindled by then, there were only two pairs of soldiers this time. Two were heavily armored and approached with slow, lumbering steps. The other two rode on horseback.

Perfect.

Both kings split up to try to pick at the soldiers one by one. Xander focused on the calvary soldiers, striking at them when their guards were lowered and retreating before their armored companions could catch him. The two preyed on their slow movements just enough for Ryoma to chase them out and finish them off.

Unfortunately, just as the two reunited, and both whipped around to cover each other's backs just in time to take out a pair of ninjas who jumped out of hiding, it wasn't enough. Seemingly out of nowhere, there were two stray spells that hit each of them, striking Xander at the side of his face and Ryoma at his back. Whoever fired them was keen to make sure they were too distracted from attacking the ninjas not to disengage and move from the range of the spells. At first, both shook off the attacks, hardly any worse for wear, and tried to rush off back in the direction toward the plaza when both were confident there were no other soldiers to fight.

"Going somewhere?"

But partway in their path, Loki stepped out of hiding. Even if she initially seemed alone, both Ryoma and Xander were even more aware of the sounds of flapping wings nearby.

"_Enough of this, Loki._" Given everything she ruined so far between the royals native to this world and their own personal plans coming here, Ryoma's fuse ran shorter every second she stood in their way.

"Oh? Already tuckered out, dear?" And as usual, much as Loki pretended to care, she didn't actually. She took her own amusement at the frustrations she brewed from playing coy. "What a shame. For two strong, powerful kings, it would go figure the little one between the two of you is more fun to play with. I guess looks can be quite deceiving, hmm?"

She also knew just the right buttons to press as well. Immediately, both of them tensed and bristled up.

"_What did you do with Kiran?_" Xander was also well past the point of being patient, and his anxieties flared up again that Loki may have already taken Kiran out elsewhere.

Yet again, Loki smiled in amusement of making them squirm.

"Now darlings, where's the fun in telling you two so soon? Weren't you both going on and on about trusting he can take care of himself and such a moment ago?"

Ryoma bit his tongue, moreso when as much as Xander initially trusted Ryoma's earlier words, the look he gave now and the way his body stiffened fed more into his thoughts that even Ryoma didn't completely believe his own words after all.

"...Oh my. So _that's_ how it is."

"_Loki._" Caught in a lie, Ryoma tensed at being called out and practically growled her name out. As much as Loki wasn't all that intimidated, it was a tone that not only made Xander take pause, but tense when he could've sworn he saw fangs. Before he could point them out, however, he was distracted by the nearby wingbeats getting louder and closer.

"As usual, you're never one to play fair. So, how long do you plan to keep your friends hiding in the trees?" Xander didn't exactly relish having yet another obstacle to get in their way between them and Kiran, but it was not something he was all that surprised about. As much as Ryoma initially groaned with similar thoughts on his mind, he wasn't quite as oblivious as Xander was that the Nohrian king suddenly sprouted a pair of black, furry, cat-like ears.

"Xander, you-"

But before Ryoma could point it out, he cut himself off with a wince. He felt a sharp pain course through his body that made him stiffen up to try to bear through and hide his pain. It didn't take long for Xander to double over similarly, but as his breaths picked up, he had a much harder time hiding his own pain.

"Cat ears? Hmm... What a pity. I suppose you two are far too distant from the original two." All this, and none of it phased Loki, merely disappointed her.

"What are you talking about? _Explain yourself._ " Ryoma tried to keep his focus on Loki and ignore his pain, but it only helped so much. It wasn't quite enough to be fighting fit no matter his will power, and his ability to will himself to ignore much of his pain worked a little _too_ well that he became ignorant to how his face shifted to show the start of a muzzle forming.

"I suppose the rumors were true. Kamui and Corrin are about as direct as one can get to the First Dragons at the moment. But it _is_ quite fascinating to see how far the Dawn and Dusk dragons came in their legacies, hmm?"

"_Leave them out of this!_" Like Ryoma, Xander tried his best to follow his lead to ignore his own pain just enough to keep standing and stay focused on Loki, but his stance was faltering little by little, and from the way his own face distorted with a much shorter muzzle than Ryoma's, it wasn't quite as effective on his part.

"Hmm~ Temper, temper. I suppose it's expected from a grouchy pair like the two of you. Are you both going to hover over those two like the way you smother that poor little summoner? Honestly, you two should learn to let those little kiddies have fun and make their own mistakes. It'll help them grow better, wouldn't you say?"

Which probably would've been sound advice any other time with how overprotective the two could get to either of the three, but Loki twisted the original intent behind such advice.

"No matter. Perhaps the two of you can gain more perspective with a few more friends to play with. In fact, I know just the friends who'd certainly love playing with _you_. I'll tell Kiran the two of you said hi."

Like it or not, the two were thrown into another battle. The source of the wingbeats flew out from the trees and lowered themselves, exposing themselves as four Emblan manakete. The more Ryoma and Xander struggled as their legs buckled underneath them and threw their balance off, the more the two felt varying levels of frustration and panic of fighting these four dragons off. It didn't help that the four carried an overwhelmingly strong odor potent enough to be noxious with all of them this close, and while either of them could make out vague traces like the scent of pine, mossy grass or such, it was all heavily overpowered in a nauseatingly strong musk that smelled like the four bathed exclusively in swamp water for years.

"_Don't touch me!_" While the four weren't quite spurned to attack yet, they still drew closer. One of them tried to move close enough to outright grab Xander by the arm only for him to strike back. Mentally, Xander wanted to whip Siegfried out of his convoy to cut his head off, but what he did out of reflex resulted in him striking the manakete with a hard slap to the face with his developing claws digging and raking across his then-human flesh as he struck him. The manakete recoiled just long enough to give Xander a moment to regain himself just enough to question why his hand felt wet before his eyes widened at the way his hand was heavily deformed while still transitioning from a human hand to a dragon's paw.

They were fighting at a heavy disadvantage, but Ryoma and Xander slowly made their way closer to one another. Whatever form the two would take, and however stacked the odds were to fight in such a form without the experience to use it, they couldn't escape or back down now.

* * *

Kiran struggled to keep himself standing and pressed onward. A moment ago, he would've been much more concerned of dirtying up his yukata, if not outright shredding it. But now, his fears and worry for Ryoma and Xander and whether or not the two were safe were thoughts that strengthened his resolve to push himself to keep moving even after Loki's ambush against him left him sore and drained.

Attending this world's summer festival was Ryoma's idea. Earlier, Kiran was hesitant to get too involved in feeling his anxieties eat away from him. He cared deeply for both of them, but when he tried to encourage the two to get to know each other, and watched the way the two grew closer, a part of him in the back of his mind worried that perhaps, he was getting in their way now. He and Xander knew how important this festival was to Ryoma, and initially, he looked as if he had more planned than just the festival, but Kiran still held his doubts on how even he really was with Xander on where their relationships stood.

But then Loki had made all of that pointless. She knew the significance as well, but she was also poised to use it against Ryoma. No matter how alert and armed the three were, they were still dressed more to celebrate festivities than to battle, and they were separated and ambushed.

"Now, now. Where's the rush, dear? Wouldn't you rather have a little bit of fun with _me_, hmm? After all, _I'm_ all yours for the taking."

He shook his head. No matter what he thought of her, he already had his heart and mind set. He watched enough times how Ryoma and Xander would shrug off anything the two were hit with and turn the tide of battle immediately after, and Kiran wanted to catch up to them in kind no matter how much Loki's spell was spreading and burning his body from the inside out. He shoved his way past her and pressed onward, a gesture she took surprisingly well and even seemed amused of it somehow.

"Oooh, playing hard to get, I see. But I must warn you, those two special friends are yours were getting awfully fresh with the locals, last I saw."

He still continued to run ahead, trying to ignore Loki in his search for Ryoma and Xander. He refused to buy into her words, guided by his trust in the two and his rising panic as he still tried to find them.

He became much more alert of the pained cries and roars he heard nearby. He could pick up the source was hidden just past the trees in front of him, his worries outweighing his cautions no matter how much he recognized the noise as dragonic.

As he suspected, he ran straight into four dragons split in a pair of two, but as familiar and typical two of them were to Emblan manakete, the other two seemed much more unique, and both struggled against the manaketes.

One of them was cat-like and almost entirely black if not for the long streak of pale blonde starting from the head and trailing along the back all the way to the tip of the tail. With bat-like wings tipped with thick claws at the tip of every joint, they weakly and slowly beat their wings to no avail as the manakete crushed them under the weight of their looming body while trying to grab their lower waist to lift. The cat-like dragon's wing beats grew weaker and less frequent as the dragon growled feebly, their energy and will to fight weakened the harder they were crushed between the dirt and the manakete.

The other unusual dragon was white with a kitsune-like face, but an elongated body of a luck dragon. Despite such, this dragon also had wings, but they were feathery, and the long dragon also couldn't keep the energy or will to hit the other manakete hard enough to knock it off them. They also had a line of brunette fur trailing from head to tail along their back, and an otherwise fluffy, white fur coat, but the way the manakete pinned the thrashing, snarling beast with their body and held the longer dragon by the throat, it was only a matter of time before the manakete would've stained their fur with blood.

Kiran completely flew on impulse and took aim with Breidablik. He immediately opened fire on the manaketes without a second thought. The first one was a direct hit to the head as the badge bore deep enough to shut the dragon down into a twitching, disoriented mess. Growling and roaring openly, the cat-dragon they pinned a moment ago completely rolled around in flinging their attacker off and snapped their jaws to tear out their attacker's throat. It finished them, but not before giving the cat-like dragon the satisfaction of watching the barely-conscious manakete drown to death.

Kiran's second target was given an even slower death. He hit them, but as the manakete moved their head in the last second to try to snap down on their prey mid-shot, what was initially meant to be a shot for their head went through their throat instead. Kiran's other shot was even less of a clean hit in managing to partially dislocate their jaw, but it took the longer dragon freeing its head and neck from the manakete's claws before they not only snapped their jaws into their neck, but clamped down as hard as they could and twisted as far as possible before finally breaking their captor's neck.

It was all well and good now that these two dragons were saved, and Kiran watched how both of them lurched to their paws. The problem, as Kiran was quickly realizing now that the two were towering over him, was that he was still left with two dragons to potentially fight. Even stranger, he became far more aware of an overpowering, sweet scent both of them emitted that clouded his focus. It would've been more inviting if the scents hadn't carried a burned undertone to them, but it was still strong enough to distract away his will to fight them.

"Kiran, are you alright? You smell as if you were shoved in a lake, but..." The first to approach them was the longer dragon. As soon as he spoke, Kiran immediately recognized his voice was like Ryoma's, but rougher, deeper and like an echo in this form. As the dragon crooned with a deep rumbling from his throat, Kiran initially flinched when he moved his head close only to ease as the dragon nuzzled and fussed over him, Kiran smelling a more distinct, sweetened scent that reminded him of the lychees Ryoma shared with him at times. The crisp tone to it eased and faded the more the dragon fussed, enough so that Kiran timidly reached over to pet the side of his cheek and neck.

"Ah? Now it’s fading... But why do you smell like you were shoved through burning kindle? And you look pale, what happened?" The other dragon also spoke, his voice proving he was Xander, albeit his voice also deeper and rougher than usual with a similar echo. He had his own murmurs caught in his throat in gently nuzzling Kiran's cheek opposite from where Ryoma fussed, give or take gentle pushing every so often at the way he nuzzled him a little too roughly. Standing close enough to Kiran, he was overpowered with a strong scent of gingerbread that Kiran was relieved no longer smelled burned either. Although even when the scent had been smelling burned, it left Kiran flustered with memories of times he'd help Xander with cooking and baking... to less-than-perfect results... He reached up to rub Xander's cheek as well.

While being smothered by two fluffy dragons the size of tigers, and slightly squished in between them, it left Kiran anxious enough to take a step back.

"Are you ok?" "Is something wrong?"

He hesitated heavily to bring up the obvious, especially when he could clearly see the pained look in either of their eyes. They didn't seem that phased of each other being dragons now, something he figured was because they transformed in front of one another before he got here, but it left Kiran feeling even more insecure.

Maybe the two realized it as well, as while the two took a cautious glance in between one another and eyed the way the two drastically changed as it is, they seemed even more timid and cautious in approaching Kiran again.

"Kiran, it's ok. We won't hurt you. No matter what anyone may try to turn us into, we won't hurt you. Please... trust us."

Kiran could see Ryoma try to reach out to him with his voice, but as well-meaning as he was, Kiran faltered and hesitated. He didn't take much issue of the two suddenly becoming dragons, and he did trust Ryoma's words that he meant what he said. The problem, however, was that what _really_ bothered Kiran was seeing yet another thing the two found common ground in that he couldn't.

"...But that's not what concerns you, is it?"  
  
As much as Xander also tried to reach out to Kiran, he forced himself to smile. No matter how much both dragons heavily suspected something more, Kiran shook his head in trying to shrug off the subject.

"It's nothing. I'm just glad you're both ok."

Neither of them bought it. But where both of them simultaneously opened their maws with clear intention to protest, they both took pause and looked past Kiran, noticing Alfonse, Sharena and Anna rush toward them. Of the three, Anna drew her weapon while the Askr siblings contemplated doing the same.

"_Kiran! Step back!_" Anna immediately held her axe, not quite ready to strike either dragons just yet, but definitely made her intentions clear how much she wanted to defend Kiran and help him find an opening to escape.

"Commander, wait."

However, what stood out most to Alfonse of the sight was Kiran seemed relaxed, if melancholy, and didn't seem to be in immediate danger, despite the dragons. While Anna hesitated, she did slowly lower her axe, but didn't stop staring cautiously at Kiran. Given a few seconds, both ladies picked up the same clues Alfonse suspected of what happened.

"Are those...? Is that Ryoma and Xander?" Sharena perked. Despite the two towering over everyone like this, when she caught on to the small hints at who was who, her fears and worries evaporated the quickest out of the three the more she recognized them.

"So... what did you three do _this_ time?"

Just behind them, Soren approached the Askr trio with Ike and Ranulf bringing up the rear. Thankfully, none of them seemed worse for wear, although where Soren looked at the three with a thin frown at what clearly became of two of them, Ike and Ranulf were calm and even curious of the dragons, if more muted compared to Sharena's excitement.

"You both look so cute, in a way~ But you both are so unique from the other dragons we saw... Oh! Are dragon laguz like these, Ranulf?"

As much as Ranulf still found this world a massive breath of fresh air of how open and casual the beorc around here are of seeing random beasts, laguz or otherwise, he shook his head, much as Sharena's bubbly excitement was rubbing off even on him to crack a smile.

"'Fraid not. Actually, those Emblan and divine manaketes seem closer. Well, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Ah, nevermind. Just a random thought."

He tried to put Sharena's mind at ease, much as Ranulf still felt flattered by her interest to learn of laguz time and again. Still, the thought of hybridized laguz was a thought best saved for a time they weren't keeping Ryoma, Xander and Kiran waiting. As much as Sharena deflated a little, she was quick to catch on now wasn't the time for it either, as curious as she still was.

"Are you two turned into the Dawn and Dusk dragons, perhaps?"

As patient as Ryoma and Xander were about Sharena's curiosity, and Ranulf's comparison with laguz, both of them tensed at Alfonse's point. The two took pause long enough to shoot a glance at one another, mentally drawing comparisons to how the other nation's patron dragon compared to their current forms. Perhaps Loki had a point that even when they did have traces lingering of what the Dawn and Dusk dragons looked like, they were too far removed compared to the forms either recalled in tapestries, insignias, and statues of the original two dragons.

"Perhaps forms of what Loki thought were the dragons, but... no. We may carry the blood of the original dragons, but we are too far removed." Although, it still surprised Ryoma that what blood they had passed through their respective families were enough to leave them in these forms in the first place. With Loki's wording and reaction, both kings doubted their current forms were entirely of her making.

"What brought this up, Alfonse?"

"Something Loki dropped at the plaza..."

Carefully, Alfonse took out papers he kept hidden in his convoy. He didn't initially have time to straighten them out in the stack he had, but he approached the dragons until he stood next to Kiran, already trusting the two by then. He remained calm in following Kiran's example, but the careful motions he took to show the documents outright to either dragons hinted he wasn't quite _as_ calm of them as he was presenting himself to be deep down. As much as he continued to keep up appearances, he did feel somewhat intimidated of Ryoma and Xander lowering themselves enough to take a closer look, but Kiran glancing over his shoulder helped keep him grounded.

"...You said that Loki had these?" For what Ryoma saw, he tensed up immediately in recognition the papers were from Hoshido's records. Be it this version of Hoshido or otherwise, the thought she could steal such documents at all frustrated him enough to growl in his throat before he could help himself, immediately regretting it when the rumbling made Alfonse stiffen up more.

"Oh! Alfonse, why didn't you say anything? They're in tatters!" All this time, Alfonse kept it to himself, leaving Sharena and Anna equally baffled not only of what Alfonse produced, but how tense Ryoma grew to see them.

"I thought it was important to return them to you. Out of any of us, you'd know best what these are for, Ryoma. From what I skimmed, they were texts about the gods of this world... More specifically, they're beings known as the First Dragons, yes?"

"Dragons?" Sharena perked. "The gods of our world are dragons, too!"

"Yes, that is true. Both Askr and Embla are dragons, and our kingdoms were named in honor of them."

"They were no doubt stolen from our record halls, but.... Yes. Our gods in our world were the First Dragons. For Hoshido, we considered our patron dragon to be the Dawn Dragon, who founded our kingdom. This festival was dedicated, not just to our dragon god of Hoshido, but the land and people as well... both those still with us and those that passed..." Which Ryoma didn't mind reminiscing in spite of what happened moments ago, but he still felt discouraged of the _other_ plan he had for this festival and how the moment was ruined.

"For Nohr, it is similar. Our patron dragon was the Dusk Dragon, who also founded our kingdom and blessed it with their blood. But, while we have different festivals more along Fall compared to ones like this festival in Summer, it was for a similar purpose of honoring our dragon god of Nohr, but also our people, if... perhaps differently as of late..." Likewise, Xander also deflated. It _was_ meant to be in honor of the people, and he aimed to make it return to such roots when the times come, but he was also rather unfortunately aware how much Garon twisted such festivities to be more self-serving and spiteful in his reign. He flinched when he felt something roughly brush up against his cheek and lift his head up by the cheek briefly before he realized Ryoma nuzzled him and lifted his head up, sticking his muzzle under his chin to make him look up again. To see two dragons that could easily shred Alfonse and Kiran where they stood act calm and affectionate brought the two a little more at ease remaining so close by.

Still, Xander huffed. By then, he knew he had a lot of ground to make up for as far as what Garon left behind, but that was an issue that wasn't about to be smoothed over all in a single sitting. He continued.

"In a way... the war between Hoshido and Nohr was almost a continuation of the war the Dawn Dragon and Dusk Dragon fought so long ago. But where we both put an end to it, the original war led to the deaths of both original dragons. When they perished, their bodies became the wind and the land of both countries and their veins still course through either of our kingdoms for us to discover and trigger to shape the lands."

"Is there, perhaps, a third dragon among you?" As much as Soren, Ranulf and Ike remained quiet in taking in the history and how far removed Hoshido and Nohr were from Tellius and their faith on a goddess rather than dragons, Ike finally broke his silence. Immediately, both Ryoma and Xander looked uncomfortable to answer, which was just as well for Ike to continue. However, it left Alfonse more confused than ever when he noticed even Kiran seemed highly uncomfortable when they had, wondering how much he knew similarly.

"Back there, when we caught up to Loki for the last time, she said she knew both original dragons weren't alive anymore to change the world. She knew all this was more for the sake of the people than the gods. But she also mentioned there was a third dragon who is 'neither white nor black'."

"Y-yes. That is true. There is, indeed, a third." Xander relented to Ike's point, but was even more frustrated combined with what Loki said a moment ago about Kamui and Corrin. "I will gladly explain the rest, but... Not here. We can discuss more of that back in Askr, perhaps."

"Aww... if you say so..." Again, Sharena seemed disappointed that was twice everyone was being awfully secretive all of a sudden. Then again, as hesitant as Xander looked, she guessed just as quickly there were things the people in this realm probably shouldn't hear about all this after all. "But once we get back, tell us everything, ok?! And I wanna hear more about the laguz, too, Ranulf~!"

"Hah! Yeah, you'll get your chance. For now, though, what happened to your spirit earlier about wanting to celebrate this festival after?"

"Oh! Right~"

As eager as Sharena was to go back to the festivities, particularly for how much effort it took to convince everyone besides Kiran and Ike to wear yukatas, Alfonse still held his reservations.

"...Hm... Whatever Loki is planning now won't be good for us... But where would we even look next?"

"We can look in Askr for that." As much as Alfonse wasn't surprised of Soren's point by itself, he was surprised at how he was the first to quickly protest, in a way, against focusing on a battle plan so soon after Loki's latest mess. "There's a reason the three of you won't discuss this further here , yes? So long as we stay here, there's every chance Loki might still be somewhere around here after all, no doubt waiting for any of you three to volunteer such information without a second thought. We can plan our next move in the same place we can discuss this third dragon: Out of Loki's earshot."

"That's true, but..."

"It'll be fiiiine, Alfonse. Of course, we must keep our guard up at all times. Any other occasion, The Order never rests!" Even Anna was siding completely with Soren's plans, despite initially providing what Alfonse thought were decent counterpoints.

"But...?"

"Buuuut, for now, the mission we have here is complete. Hoshido is secured, and everyone is accounted for and safe! The Ryoma and Xander here already tried to reign in the situation and maintain the peace of the rest of the festival with Micaiah and Elincia's help. We at least helped minimize the damage that Loki could've done if we hadn't caught up to her sooner. Sooooo... Wouldn't it be a bigger insult to them to spoil the mood and not enjoy the festivities for what it is?"

As much as Anna tried to present her point with the thought of trying to coax the more serious Askran royal to relax and unwind - and in a way, it was working - Alfonse sighed and shook his head. A playful smile formed on his lips faster than he could help himself when, as much as he understood Anna's point, he also saw where the meat of the issue was.

"...You're just saying such because you want to return to your stall in the marketplace, aren't you?"

"Hey! I can worry about my friends just as much as I can worry about my bottom line, can't I? And with everything falling back in place, I might still be able to make quite a business with my accessories yet!"

"Haha... Oh, very well."

"I'll keep an eye out for you, then, but I'm tempted to see what the rest of the market has, anyways." It also didn't take much for Ike to follow Alfonse's lead of still wanting to go back. If not because he was worried about making sure the rest of The Order remained safe, Ike did have his curiosities of how different the culture in this world was from anything he's seen from Tellius similarly. While Ranulf's ears perked no matter how his chilled, cool emotions remained, Soren perked at Ike's decision before sticking closer to the two likewise.

"Very well. It could be good insight on how Hoshido operates in general."

"Are you saying that because you plan to seize Hoshido, or are you saying such because Ike wishes to go back to the festivities?" As much as Ryoma knew Soren spoke casually yet logically as always in his decisions, he knew too Soren merely tried to save face this time and verbally prodded him just for fun.

"Hey! Yeah! Weren't you the one who was all cranky about wanting to stay in and read books instead of go partying?! You big grump!" And Sharena, likewise, wasn't quick to forget the entire struggle it took back when barely anyone dressed up in their kimonos and yukatas and Soren was having none of it, up until he noticed Ike willingly dressed up in his own yukata with Ranulf.

  
"I have no recollection of what you mean by that." And as usual, Soren dodged the subject and played coy, to Sharena's playful frustration. "Shall we?"

Ike sighed heavily, but his smile broadened. He knew enough about Soren to know how he gets at times, but also knew deep down where Soren's heart was and didn't call Soren out on it. As much as Sharena pouted the whole time in tailing the three, she stuck her tongue out even when Soren wasn't facing her anymore as Ike gently led both his boyfriends off to the plaza again while Anna followed them. Giving up, she turned toward to the others, trying to bounce back from her frustrations over Soren.

"Aaagh, whatever! The four of you are coming too, right? You gotta!"

"Yes, yes..." Out of the four, Alfonse was quick to relent and go, knowing it wouldn't accomplish much to hold back and frustrate his sister otherwise. At first, Kiran took a few steps in wanting to follow Alfonse's lead to go to Sharena, but when he looked back and noticed Ryoma actually take steps back, he paused and stared at him as Xander had.

"If it's all the same... Go with them, Kiran. I'll make my way back to Askr now."

"Ryoma...?" As much as both Askr siblings overheard the couple and took pause, Kiran hesitated even more.

"Ryoma, surely your people-"

"No... No, they wouldn't. They still aren't ready yet, with or without the context, Marx." Ryoma shook his head immediately and seemed even more set in his ways to retreat, even with Xander trying to speak up. As much as Xander and Kiran both worried, and all of them knew Ryoma seemed the most excited out of anyone for the festival, Kiran took pause and felt even more confused and frustrated at the name Ryoma called Xander that he himself hadn't known about.

"...'Marx'...?"

"Wha- wait, what do you mean they aren't ready? What context?"

Ryoma realized too late he said too much. He hesitated, but between Sharena's surprise, and how she and Kiran seemed worried and disappointed, he realized he couldn't completely leave it at that.

"When Garon used our siblings as a trap against Hoshido, it killed the previous queen, my mother. Even if the attack was not Kamui's or Corrin's fault, and not an attack we blamed the two for, what followed was Kamui transforming fully into a dragon and flying into a grief-fueled rampage, with Corrin very nearly following suit. I don't hold either of them at fault. I cannot blame the two for their feelings, and their rampage neither caused the destruction to my kingdom nor my people, but there were opposing forces who tried to jump at the opportunity while our guards were down. But... From their perspective, some felt as if Kamui and Corrin, as dragons, were what destroyed the kingdom's capital instead. No matter what I or my siblings said, there are some who still felt strongly against dragons in general due to that incident. For that reason, I... It is best I do not upset this version of Hoshido further, especially with the me of this world being here."

"But... But we can figure out a way to change the two of you back!" As Kiran fell silent when Ryoma completely dodged the subject of the name, much as he worried more of Ryoma's point even when it made sense, Sharena initially was the quickest to protest. "A-all the other manakete could switch forms with a stone, even Kamui and Corrin! All we need to do is find a stone and-"

"No." Ryoma immediately stopped her train of thought, as touched as he was of her trying to help. "In the time it would take, the festival would be over. Please. Both of you take Kiran and go."

"Yes..." Similarly, Xander relented. Or rather, _Marx_ relented. "If that is how the people feel, I will join Ryoma and return to Askr with him as well. In the meantime, please, don't hold back on our accounts." He didn't have a second thought about the decision either, and he was poised to turn and retreat with him.

"Wait... Wait a minute..." Despite Kiran moving closer after the two, both turned just enough to nuzzle him, but otherwise nudge him back to the Askr siblings. They tried to be gentle, but their size took very little force to pretty much force him right back to them. Kiran knew as much the point still stood about their dragon forms posing too much of a risk to how this Hoshido would react, but he grew even more upset that not only did the two make the decision for him to stay in the festival without them, but neither would bring up the point of the nickname.

"Kiran, no. Go back."

"It's ok, Kiran. Go with them. The festival will come sometime soon in my Hoshido anyways, and we can go together then..."

"That's not the point! That's... that's not..."

Alfonse hated it. He held Sharena's shoulder just as she was about to protest, and just in time to stop her mid-thought. He started catching on that the two completely ignored Kiran, and he realized easily enough Kiran wasn't protesting about bringing them anyways, but wanting to go home with them as well. What frustrated him was how he couldn't help but wonder if their pushiness to keep Kiran away from them on purpose meant something more was going on between the two. What angered him was how, with whatever the two were keeping to themselves, they ignored Kiran completely of how pained he was. He was letting his feelings crack through that showed their rejection of him was getting to him.

"Kiran, let's go." Alfonse held his tongue, much as he had several choice words against Ryoma and Marx proper, but tried desperately to hold his tongue for the sake of not rocking the boat. "They both have their minds set. We can grab some souvenirs from the market while these two have _time to think._"

Emphasis on 'tried'. He saw right through them and knew damn well as they did what was going on. Kiran looked even more distressed in thinking Alfonse was taking their side, and was yet another person ignoring what he wanted, Alfonse didn't break eye contact in staring the two down, watching both dragons back down and turn meek under the gaze while reading between the lines of his words. Still, they got what they wanted, for now, and parted ways.

* * *

  
Thankfully, the trip back home went smoothly. After the numerous manaketes and laguz that joined the ranks, seeing two transformed dragons wandering around was almost commonplace for everyone else now. If anything, the two drew more attention of people trying to guess who they were originally or what breed of dragon they were supposed to be than alarm or fear Ryoma truly believed Hoshido would've reacted had the two stayed any longer.

But... he also knew he was stubborn about sending Kiran on his way. Perhaps _too_ stubborn if Alfonse was willing to call them both out. But he couldn't hold him back just because he wasn't careful enough, and it relieved him in some way that Marx followed him, even if by force of circumstance.

But for now, all he wanted to do was retreat to their chambers, relieved for how big the rooms and doorways were in the first place for these exact situations. He moved up against their bed, glad for the size and sturdiness when it still held his weight even as a dragon as it had when he was human, and was just as supportive when Marx joined him.

Of the two, Ryoma was the quickest to lay down on his side and curl his body, leaving his head on top of either of his arms with his paws stretched forward. Even as Marx moved on the bed likewise, the bed gave a creak of protest, but otherwise still supported the two as he laid on his stomach beside Ryoma, occasionally flexing the tip of his tail up and down. As the uncomfortable silence grew between the two, Marx lowered himself completely, resting his head on his paws in a similar manner as Ryoma. He tried to give him as much time as he needed, but he also heavily fought the urge to sleep outright.

"...Was I wrong?"

"Hmm?"

Finally, Ryoma broke the silence. Marx lifted his head just enough to lean over and nudged Ryoma slightly on the cheek. Even when exhaustion from the battle, the way Ryoma hardly moved went well beyond that, and he barely budged from his spot.

"Kiran could've been killed, among others. If I hadn't insisted on us dressing down like this, our guards wouldn't have been so compromised. None of this would've happened."

"Is that really fair to say?" Marx knew where this was going and already tried his best to help cut this pattern short. Once Ryoma was set in his way like this, he knew he'd only keep sliding downward from there, and it frustrated him every time.

"Marx, you saw as much what happened. You wouldn't be in that form if it weren't for me."

"On the contrary, what I saw was Loki in the middle of planning a mass attack we interrupted prematurely. A plan I highly doubt would've been stopped in time if it weren't for you."

Already, Marx took it as a good sign that he got Ryoma to finally shift his position, if only to lift his head up and glare at him.

"That doesn't negate my point."

"Nor did yours negate mine." He watched him calmly while continuing to match him point for point, relieved nowadays it wasn't as volatile as back when they were enemies on opposite sides of a war. "Loki would've still attacked regardless. If you hadn't planned your proposal for there over here, she would've no doubt attacked the versions of us native to that world. They would've been transformed instead, but they don't have our luxury of simply slipping away for the sake of giving their people peace of mind like we do. Is that what you'd rather have?"

Ryoma growled in his throat before he could help himself. Marx trusted enough, however, that it wasn't a sign Ryoma would turn on him, but that he wanted to protest despite having no actual point to counter with. Marx simply huffed in return and nuzzled him cheek to cheek, a gesture Ryoma initially stiffened up from, but slowly eased to and returned. When he calmed enough to stop growling, one point stuck out to him enough to make him freeze up.

"Marx... How did you know I was planning to propose...?" His heart sank that what was meant to be a surprise was something Marx saw coming all along.

"Besides you admitting such just now?" But with how Ryoma's eyes dulled and the way he lowered his head back on his paws again, Marx realized that was much too harsh right then to tease him. He tried to nuzzle him and urge him to pick himself up again, but he was back to square one.

"...It was a sacred Hoshidan festival. You also tried to keep as much distance as possible from everyone except Kiran and me not to pressure us. I figured that was also why you took advantage of this festival in another Hoshido rather than your own, or else either of our families would've been all over us. It was a fair guess as any."

Which just left Ryoma even more frustrated and discouraged that he was that easy to read, yet screwed it all up anyways. And not just the proposal, or its surprise, but to throw so many people into danger no matter Marx's points. As flustered as Marx was in knowing he couldn't kiss Ryoma as he wanted in this form, he was brave enough to still test the waters with his boundaries to lick Ryoma on the cheek, a gesture he didn't think heavily of, much less took offense to.

"...I would've accepted it anyways. No doubt, Kiran would've, too."

At first, Ryoma still remained stiff in laying down no matter how much Marx nuzzled and fussed over him. But then guilt ate him of how much he pushed Kiran away of the two, holding doubts and fears even when he was relieved Marx stuck by him.

Suddenly, they heard a chair drag awkwardly out of place with a loud screech, followed by someone cursing softly under their breath. Both immediately snapped to attention, heads swiveled and ears immediately perked when both were immediately aware someone else slipped into their room. To their massive relief, they saw Kiran's backside and immediately recognized him. There was a bunch of gifts clearly from the festival that weren't there before, but now covered their table. From the way Kiran stiffened, and the angle of the chair, Kiran accidentally tripped his foot beside one of the legs of the chair to drag it.

"Kiran?" Ryoma hesitated. The fact Kiran felt the need to sneak in and out was already a bad sign to him and Marx. The way he could see the tells from Kiran's gestures even when looking at his back, he could also pick up Kiran nervously flexing one of his hands into his other and fiddling with his fingers in general before mustering up enough nerve to turn around and face the two. He tried to look neutral, but Marx could pick up he tried to make an effort to hide how he really felt.

"...Could we talk?"

"Of course, Kiran." Marx didn't even hesitate. He patted a paw on an open space of the bed between both him and Ryoma. Initially, he hesitated, but he only held back long enough to close the door to their room before settling beside the two. It didn't inspire confidence in either of the dragons when Kiran's body language the whole time felt as if he wished the floor would open up under him.

"...I've been thinking things over at the festival, and um... There's something I wanted to tell you both..." Even to admit such, Kiran's voice wasn't quite as strong as it used to be, and he seemed withdrawn no matter how technically close he was to either of dragons. It left both of them nervous at it feeling like Kiran slowly regressing back to how he used to be back when the two first knew him before teaching him to open up to the world.

"You're welcome to tell us anything, Kiran, but... There are things we need to ask you as well." With Marx shooting him glances, Ryoma hesitated, but opened up in kind. He didn't know how much Kiran overheard before, but figured as much that whether or not the mood or moment was there anymore, there were things they needed to sort out first. "But, you go first, Kiran."

"Um... Ok." And it was as suspected that he did hear about hints of a proposal. Partially, at the very least. He heard and focused enough midway of being stealthy that he guessed Ryoma was planning to propose to Marx, and it only added more to where his mind drifted the time he remained at the festival contemplating over. He noticed Ryoma and Marx held softened looks in looking to him, which only made the feeling worse.

"...You both really love each other a lot, right?"

Already, he wasn't comforted at the thought of how perked the two were at the question, or how unreadable their faces were now. Still, both held back in not interrupting him.

"You both have a lot in common with one another. Both of you are strong and able to fight. Both of you come from the same world and with similar backgrounds. And... there's things you two seem to know about each other that even I don't. Like... why couldn't either of you tell me what 'Marx' meant?"

Where initially, the two remained firm on trying not to interrupt out of respect for Kiran no matter how tense both looked in certainly wanting to, eventually Marx couldn't help himself and cursed a soft "merde" only for his ears to droop in the interruption. With Kiran taking pause to look sadly up to the two, Marx doubled down on saying his peace.

"Ah, no, that's... Kiran, I'm so sorry. It was a very recent development; I promise I've been meaning to ask you later in private of, but... We were so caught up with Loki and..."

He shook his head, clearing his throat in trying to regain himself, especially when Kiran didn't seem entirely convinced.

"I apologize, especially making you upset and feeling like we were keeping things from you. In light of there being another me to serve Veronica, and with your efforts to tell us apart from other versions of us out there, there was something I've thought of doing for a long time that I thought would be appropriate now. As you knew, I am formally known as Xander, but... A name my mother used to call me that Garon vetoed was Marx. As a compromise, it was a middle name of sorts, but even as I grew up, he tried desperately to make all of us forget it ever since my mother died. I trust the two of you well enough with such a name, and I wanted both of you to know you mattered more to me than just duty sake. It's... a silly way to show such, I know, but I wanted to tell you just as soon as we had a moment to ourselves like I caught Ryoma before."

"I-I see." Thankfully, Kiran did accept Marx's explanation. He seemed even more relaxed afterwards, but to Marx's dismay, not enough to reach his previous energy or joy still. There was still too much on his mind no matter what Marx decided to call himself.

"And I'm sorry as well for upsetting you too, Kiran. But... speaking of your question, what we wanted to ask you is related, as well." With Marx's interruption, Ryoma took his chances to interrupt likewise. "Out of the two of us... who do you love?"

"Both." Kiran froze up on the spot, but spoke out of reflex. It told the two enough where his feelings were, but flustered them likewise when Kiran panicked at his own answer and seemed disappointed in himself. "I mean, I do love both of you, but... If I have to pick one of you, it's tougher to say..."

"Does it really need to be a choice?" Ryoma was quick yet gentle to counter Kiran. Where Marx was reserved in trying to give him a chance without pushing him too much, Ryoma gently nuzzled up to Kiran, if much more hesitantly than before in his lingering thoughts. "Would you be comfortable being with both of us?"

"I feel like I should be asking both of you that..." He wasn't oblivious to the two being awfully close to one another, but it surprised him more that even as the two supported each other and bonded so closely, they would still want him around too. Then again, with Kiran caring for both of them, maybe that's why he was so slow to realize he didn't exactly take issue either of what went on between the three and how, otherwise.

"Of course, little summoner. We are. But we weren't quite sure of your own comforts before." Eventually, Marx gave up his hesitance and nuzzled Kiran on his side opposite of where Ryoma nuzzled him. He wasn't quite as reserved in his own strength behind his nuzzling by comparison. It eased Kiran even moreso with their comforts, especially when he heard and felt the way Marx purred.

"I-I'm ok with it! Actually this... It's great!" It was an even harder argument to make when not only Marx continued to purr, but Ryoma started purring as well, and both of them still nuzzled up to him.

"Good! Good. So then you wouldn't be against the idea of marrying both of us."

"If you two are ok with-what."

However, Kiran took pause at how casually Ryoma brought up marriage. More, marriage to both of them, rather than just with Marx. Unfortunately, he realized too little too late he spoke his mind too openly, and pulled back immediately upon seeing Kiran's surprise.

"I... That is, I, er..."

"Go on." But as much as Ryoma and Kiran awkwardly stared at one another, Marx nudged him a little to encourage him. Already realizing too late he messed up even more, he sighed softly and resigned, lowering his whole head onto the bed while still carrying an overly meek look up to Kiran. Love confessions were never his strong suit, and he felt after all his other attempts, he was well past the point of being overly formal or romantic now.

"...Please marry us, Kiran."

Then again, Kiran wasn't one to talk. He was plenty awkward himself as it was, especially how he handled this talk up to now. He moved closer and hugged Ryoma by the head and neck, nuzzling against Ryoma's fur while the dragon continued to hum a purr-like rumble, all while keeping some space from himself and Ryoma's mouth.

"Ok." He wasn't exactly doing himself any favors in trying not to be awkward, but at this point, the three knew each other well enough to know this was for the best. He saw the way Ryoma's ears perked up and his eyes opened, a smile forming along his muzzle, but no matter how thrilled he was, he stayed mindful to move slowly and gently.

"You're sure?"

"Mmhmm." And in the three smoothing things over, Kiran felt a lot of his insecurities carefully picked away, much as he felt guilty letting them take root as badly as it had. When Ryoma gently disengaged, it was just long enough to repeat Marx's act at his cheek a moment ago with licking Kiran along his cheek, an act Marx mirrored and synchronized with on Kiran's other cheek. As much as it surprised him, he laughed before he could help himself. It was like having two large cats reach over and groom him, but to Kiran's mercy, not as rough on him right then.

"Hahaaa-w-what're you two-haha~"

Still not wanting to take the risk anyways of hurting him otherwise, they quickly shifted to simply nuzzling him and moving to tuck Kiran in between them. Smothered in two different coats of fur, not to mention two very contrasting sweet scents, Kiran found it even harder to stay upset with the two between being showered in attention and his exhaustion from the festival catching up to him.

"Mn, wait, was there something else on your mind as well, Kiran? I believe we both may have interrupted your earlier point."

Which made Kiran's heart sink when Marx pulled away just enough to give him a moment to recollect himself, a motion Ryoma mimicked upon realizing he interrupted as well.

"Ah- uh... No! I was worried, is all... I thought you two were happier just between each other and got worried. Eheh..."

Seeing that point proven otherwise, and seeing Kiran thought otherwise, both settled for his explanation in favor of fussing over him some more, relieved the three could smooth everything over. When the two didn't press further, Kiran didn't try to dig his hole any deeper either, and simply snuggled up beside his lovers to settle in for the night.

Out of anything, he was relieved that the two interrupted him. Especially when he was nerves away coming to the conclusion he wanted to break up with both of them and let the two be a moment ago.


	2. Yours to Claim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Ryoma and Marx learned the full extent of how Loki transformed them, they also eventually learned how she changed Kiran as well. However, as concerning as Loki's intentions were, perhaps not all these changes were necessarily for the worse, even if it took unfortunate trials and errors to learn them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains spoilers for Fire Emblem Fates, Radiant Dawn and Heroes.
> 
> Thanks for reading! For post updates, questions, art and general random silliness in between, check me out at eriisaam.tumblr.com for more!

By morning, Kiran felt every part of his body ache and stiffen. He still wasn't quite as quick or as able to bounce back from strenuous fights as either of his more battle-hardened lovers. The last he remembered before dozing off, Ryoma and Marx were both curled up by either of his sides and had tucked him in under the warmth of their wings, Ryoma's feathery wing blanketing him first under his soft down while Marx's wing overlapped him to help keep him warmer. By the time he woke up, the three looked as if they passed out on the spot in their bed before so much as pulling up the covers. All three still dressed in their accessories and yukatas as two of the three had reverted back to their human forms overnight.

Despite being the worse off of the three, Kiran was the first to wake up. Initially, he was in enough of a daze to debate whether or not it was all a dream, but between his gifts still left all over the table, and looking over either of his lovers, there was enough evidence suggesting otherwise.

He smiled softly to them, even if the two remained fast asleep enough not to notice, and he kissed the both of them on the cheek before wandering off to start the day. To Alfonse's relief, where he worried over Kiran and dreaded the same outcome Kiran did in coming back home, he and Sharena were thrilled in learning the actual results. They were even more relieved when Ryoma and Marx eventually woke up and caught up to Kiran, simultaneously showing how the two managed to turn human again and back Kiran's claims they were engaged. At first, both of them were content to put Loki's antics behind them, give or take trying to find dragon stones for precaution sake.

The problem, however, was whatever Loki did to them wasn't quite as temporary as they thought, and where even Kiran didn't think much of it, the two failed to realize Loki cursed him as well.

  
Ryoma and Marx were quick to catch on to some changes that couldn't be undone no matter what form they took. What those changes were, they kept initially to themselves, but opened up slowly between each other in the process of wondering where their similarities lie beyond both permanently turning into manaketes themselves. Where both were initially clumsy trying to draw comparisons and ask one another questions, the two outright gave up trying to dance around the subject to retreat to somewhere private and strip down. What resulted was discovering parts they clearly remember weren't there before since the last time Ryoma coaxed the three of them to a Hoshidan onsen. A much darker mood set in while recalling the night before, in light of it.

"...Merde... So, when should we tell Kiran? How to even approach something like this..." Marx already was quick to dress himself back up, and in his rising frustrations, he went from crossing his arms initially to reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"When we cross that bridge in general, perhaps." By comparison, Ryoma was a little slower, having only just tucked his business away and straightened himself out again. He was far calmer, but with Ryoma, it was less obvious if he genuinely felt calm or merely acted such to help keep Marx calm. "We've only just got engaged. It's a bit too soon to feel we absolutely must discuss this right away, yes?"

"Perhaps, but-"

"Then for now, drop it." Once dressed, Ryoma patted Marx on the shoulder, sharing much more confidence with a smile. "Our priority is ensuring Kamui and Corrin are kept safe. And if Kiran didn't judge us when we were dragons, he wouldn't change his mind of this either."

But where Ryoma spoke in confidence, and it was confidence Marx knew was legitimate this time, he still glared at Ryoma all the same.

"Oh? Bold of you to say for someone who panicked through his entire proposal."

"Hmph. I didn't exactly hear _you_ volunteer otherwise. How would you have done it?"

"Hah~ I don't believe you are ready to know that." At least he got Marx to smile again, but how he did so left Ryoma even more flustered.

"Try me." A part of him was curious, but there was a nostalgic competition brewing between the two. He watched Marx huff at him, approach him, and then lean up beside his ear.

"Je t'aime. Je ne peux pas vivre sans toi."

His voice was hushed yet silky. Ryoma barely understood any of what Marx said, but his point remained clear he left Ryoma's cheeks flushed and his heart racing.

"W-why didn't... *ahem* Why didn't you say that last night...?"

"And upstage you? That was hardly the time for it."

He had a point, but Ryoma was still highly torn on how to feel.

"Oh um... M-maybe I'll come back later..."

Immediately, both snapped at attention in focusing on the door. The source of the meek, timid, embarrassed voice was Corrin, who thankfully managed to find them in their room, but was too timid and shy to interrupt the way Ryoma was so red in the face or how close Marx was to him likewise. Hastily, Marx separated from Ryoma while the two fumbled to straighten themselves out.

"No, that's-" "Ah Corrin, you-"

"It's truly ok!" "It's fine, come in."

Awkwardly as the two cleared their throats, Corrin giggled, not only revealing herself in full, but further revealing Kamui was with her as he poked his head into the room before following her lead.

"If you say so, big brothers... We both came as soon as we could."

"You told us as much we needed to talk about our fathers, but was there other things on your mind? Also... did you two bake something just now? It smells really sweet in here."

"Ah, you smell it too? I thought it came from another room..."

As flustered as the two still were of not being entirely sure how to explain why the sweet scents were still stubbornly clinging to them even after so long, the two were quick to put off their earlier flirtations and private talk in favor of focusing more seriously on their siblings now that the two made it to them. With how curious and alert the two were, they were both relieved they got to them in time before Loki could hatch any more ideas.

"Yes. I'd like to apologize in advance for reopening such a sore subject, but... there is someone we ran into last night who may seek to hurt not only the two of you, but perhaps Silas and Niles as well. What she lacks in strength, she makes up for in cunning. We wanted to warn you ahead of time what to expect, but did you at least heed our earlier warnings?" Course, it wasn't enough for what Loki already did to them, but the memories were also still fresh of what Ryoma revealed last night of the full extent of what happened following Mikoto's death. Combined with how Anankos died as well, he had every urge to chase Loki down and shred her to pieces if he could.

"Of course, Xander, of course... I told Silas to withdraw from active duty and stay with me in Krakenburg until you say otherwise."

"And I told the same thing to Niles. He promised me he'll stay in my castle grounds and wait for me."

"Thank you both. We're sorry to have to uproot you four on such short notice, but we didn't want to take any chances."

At least Marx took comfort at how flexible the two were and how much trust they shared in them even after all that happened between Nohr, Hoshido and Valla. But with their spouses safe and secured elsewhere, it left them with the task of keeping everyone on the same page planning their next move.

"As for Anankos... We may need to discuss more of him in detail with the Askran royals and with the Greil Mercenaries. Would you two be comfortable with such?"

Without any hesitation, Corrin and Kamui nodded, almost in unison. The memories of Mikoto's death were still painful, and everything Anankos became and the pain he caused were still bitter memories to all of them, but if it meant preventing a major threat from potentially doing something much worse than he did, they were both willing to set aside their feelings. It didn't go over Ryoma's or Marx's notice how much the two tensed up behind much more serious, determined faces and the significance of both of them agreeing so quickly, but while a necessity, the two knew there was so much they still owed to them to return the favor.

"Thank you both... Then please, join us, will you? Soren's waiting for us in the training fields."

"Of course, Ryoma. With that in mind, maybe it's a good place to practice how to um... dragon... Y-you know what I mean."

"Hm?" Not that it surprised Ryoma all that much Kamui knew, given they shared brief news they were turned into dragons, but he watched the way the two whispered to one another briefly before Corrin pulled out a pair of stones from her convoy.

"Are those...?"

"Before I left Nohr, Azura caught up to me and gave me these. I dunno how she made these stones in such short notice, but she told me not to worry about it and how important it was to make sure the two of you keep them on you at all times." Already, Corrin urged them both to take one. At a glance, they both seemed similar not just to each other, but to the stones she and Kamui have for themselves likewise. But be it because Ryoma and Marx subconsciously sensed which stone resonated best with who, or the stones resonated with them afterwards, Marx's stone darkened and held a more ominous neon glow to it, while Ryoma's seemed to turn paler and had a much more radiant aura. It put Marx and Ryoma at ease to feel their respective stones sync with them, and they took it as a good sign how brightened and relieved Corrin and Kamui looked to watch.

Still, words can only do so much to thank them and Azura. they both knew they owed the three so much and more. For now, however, words would have to do. They couldn't keep Soren and the others waiting, after all.

* * *

  
Kiran readied himself just as Ranulf had. Where the cat laguz was fully transformed and halfway crouched, poised to pounce him yet again for the third time in a row that day, Kiran held his training sword in one hand as Marx taught him while readying his body with a stance more like Ryoma's. After yesterday's close call, he was even more determined to improve his battle skill today. He tried to do both Marx and Ryoma justice while running forward, twirling his body while trying to strike a counter-ready Ranulf.

The problem, however, was Kiran was neither blessed with Ryoma's grace, nor Marx's strength, and while combining both their fighting styles wouldn't be an impossible task on its own, Kiran was even less experienced of how to go about doing so. What he ended up accomplishing was tripping mid-leap putting too much weight on his heel when he wasn't ready, and he found out the hard way why Ryoma typically held his katana with two hands when Kiran's sword slipped out of his hand as he stumbled and eventually tripped into Ranulf outright. Not only did his sword barely bump against Ranulf with much force to even hit him all that hard, but it put him right into Ranulf's paws and earned him a somewhat half-hearted pounce for his trouble.

If this was a genuine fight, Kiran would've been torn to ribbons for such a fatal mistake. Fortunately, Ranulf huffed, but otherwise knew when to back off and give Kiran time to pull himself back up to try again.

"So that's the third one then. A dragon who went well beyond insane and tried to take the world down with him." Soren couldn't exactly say he was surprised, however, especially when a certain _other_ powerful, deity-like figure nearly did the same thing.

"And those dragon forms Kamui and Corrin have are the latest incarnations of the Silent Dragon then. Like how you two seem to be the latest Dawn and Dusk Dragons now?" Not that Ike was a stranger to either of their dragon forms in this world or the Smashverse otherwise, but he didn't stop to consider there was more significance to either dragons than just that.

"I suppose that's one way to describe it, sure... But, as Corrin and Kamui are Anankos's son and daughter, their blood is far more potent to that particular First Dragon. Ours is a bit more dubious how it became a part of our bloodlines in the first place, and even so, that bloodline was stretched through multiple generations of Nohrian and Hoshidan royalty." Which, for what Marx recalled how Anankos looked in comparison to Kamui and Corrin, it did make more sense how they were almost entirely alike, had Anankos's form not been so withered and decayed in his degeneration.

"And if Anankos is already dead, that just leaves Kamui and Corrin then. But why would she focus on the First Dragons now when she didn't before? And if Anankos couldn't be controlled when someone else tried, and she made no attempt to bend either of your wills, what is she trying to accomplish in her ambushes?" As much as Alfonse also tried to make sense of it all, he was even more baffled of Loki's plans, as much as Corrin, Kamui, Marx and Ryoma tried their best to piece things together. While everyone were understandably far slower to drink their tea, Sharena was already on her third cup, and she alternated focusing between the council at hand and watching Kiran yet again fall over mid-attack when Ranulf did little else but poke him off balance with a paw.

"Mn..." Soren bought himself a little time taking a particularly long sip of tea. He tried to think back to what the area looked like immediately around Ryoma and Marx when they found them. To say nothing about their dragon forms and the copious amount of blood on them, at that particular sight, he did start to recall not just two manaketes Ryoma and Marx immediately put down, but two ninjas, and two soldiers. By themselves, there was little to be said of it, but together, and from the way they were positioned, he caught on how everything else up to the manaketes were bait.

"...You two fought four dragons altogether, yes? What specifically happened when you fought the four?"

Like Soren, Marx and Ryoma took especially long sips of their own tea in trying to mull it over. They didn't mind recalling the event - as was fair to ask, given what they had to ask Corrin and Kamui similarly - but they tried to recall down to the exact details, rather than just the bare facts.

"Well..." Ryoma out of the two braved going first. "It was right after Loki already hit both of us with her spells and they slowly took hold on us. She confronted us while keeping them initially hidden, but sent them down on us when we both were transforming for the first time. I don't know where Loki pulled them from, but they reeked of this overwhelming swamp water stench, among other things. Between that, the transforming, and having to fight in a form we had little experience in combat with, the odds were heavily stacked against us."

"And yet, even so, we managed to take out a dragon each before they tried to pin us down. That was the point Kiran found us and rescued us by opening fire on the remaining two."

"So... by all accounts, they would've been more than able to kill the two of you that night."

"_Soren!_" As much as everyone else were all too accustomed with how blunt Soren could be at times, Sharena was still never prepared for it. Thankfully, she wasn't the only one, as Corrin and Kamui stared uncomfortably between each other and him, and even Kiran took pause mid-struggling from under Ranulf's paw pinning him to the ground at the moment. He and Ranulf both had still kept their ears open for what went on, but Sharena's outburst made the two take pause of their training.

"Harsh as it is, he's right." Which unfortunately left Sharena even more flustered at Anna likewise that she agreed. "Between what they were already enduring, and the smell, having to fight that many dragons at a disadvantage like that was dangerous. Killing two of them before Kiran reached them was already risky enough to hedge any bets on, but four of them? It was lucky they didn't finish them off before Kiran got there. But the question remains: why?"

"Why indeed." Soren nodded, confirming Anna had his point figured out exactly. "Clearly, they were either ridiculously dumb, or they were overconfident enough to toy with the two of you, and it cost them their lives. Why did they feel the need to drag this on as they had?"

With what the two discovered about each other that morning, Ryoma and Marx not only turned tense, but neither of them could look anyone in the eyes right then. Ryoma suddenly found the table highly interesting to study the fabric that blanketed its surface, and Marx seemed to take even longer than usual to drink from his cup.

"...Unless..." Alfonse tried to follow along as well. It wasn't that he found all of this confusing, but rather, the way Marx and Ryoma reacted made him consider one theory that made his stomach churn. "Unless that's exactly what they were doing. Toying with them in some way. Not out of arrogance, but there was something Loki wanted them to accomplish with you two, right? Was there something else Loki did to the two of you besides turn you into dragons then?"

"Well..." "Erm..."

"Um... That reminds me..." With their focus being more on the shift in the discussion, Ranulf and Kiran lost heart in training, and Ranulf relented in taking his paw off of Kiran, allowing him to sit up properly. "I ran into Loki on the way to the two of you, and um... Stuff happened, and she said that you two were 'getting fresh' with the locals. What does that mean?"

Already, Kiran regretted to ask. He winced at the way everyone tensed up, but Marx and Ryoma terrified him at the way the look on their faces darkened the most, even for a moment.

_"Kiran. What did Loki do to you?"_

"Ryoma..." As much as Kamui understood Ryoma and Marx's concern, he also realized Ryoma's tone being as tense as it was terrified even him and Corrin, never mind Kiran.

"N-nothing?" His blatant lie didn't help calm the two any faster. If anything, it just made them even more tense. "I-I mean I don't _think_ she did anything. I'm not a dragon like either of you, and I don't really feel any different..."

"Kiran... That would've been imperative to know sooner." Of the two, Marx took the far calmer approach, while Soren merely groaned and buried his face partially in his hand. "Even if you seem fine _now_, if you need a dragon stone as well, we need to help prepare you before whatever Loki did to you worsens."

There was no longer any chance Kiran could convince them that Loki did absolutely nothing to him now. The problem remained was finding out _what_ she did. As much as Kiran deflated without having a definite answer, Soren felt merciful enough to redirect everyone's attention at a detail that was nagging at him about all of this.

"Ranulf."

"Mrrraw."

"A word, please."

"Mrawwrl." While Ranulf trotted over, he eventually lifted himself up on his hind legs as he transformed with ease back into his more humanoid form. All the while, Ike got up from his seat to move up to Kiran and reach out to him. With his help, Ike quickly lifted him back on his feet with the intention to take over the training regimen, all while Ranulf sat in Ike's seat.

"I'm gonna take a guess you're going to ask about the scents, right?"

"Is there any significance to it among laguz that you can think of? And any connection to whatever the hell Loki's trying to accomplish here?"

"Weeeell..." Much like everyone else, Ranulf took a moment to think of an answer. Except while he didn't hide behind trying to sip tea too long, his tail swished some of the time or flicked the very tip otherwise. "Maybe I'll just get this much out of the way first, but you three might wanna be careful around manaketes who smell as unwashed or wet like the ones you fought last night. That kind of scent is more trouble than it’s worth trying to guess what it really means off of complete strangers."

"I... see..." As much as Marx could figure as much how badly the attacks went last night, he didn't know how to feel to learn this was consistent enough to be a red flag. However, Ryoma tensed up.

"...Us three? Kiran is at risk as well? Was he turned into a dragon after all?"

"It's a bit of a stretch to say he's a dragon for sure, but ever since last night, the three of you have been smelling kinda off up to now. Obviously, I'm not suggesting every laguz or manakete is gonna be all over you, but whichever ones threw away their self-control like those manaketes from last night are gonna take your scents as a personal challenge." As calm as Ranulf outwardly tried to keep himself, Ike could see the way one of Ranulf's ears drooped lower than the other, and the one he kept up was flicking rapidly and heavily on occasion. To Marx and Ryoma, he tried to do his best to warn them calmly, but inwardly, he was stewing in anger. It was people like those manaketes that 'justified' the beorc calling all laguz 'sub-human' feral beasts and such.

As much as it took a moment of Marx and Ryoma staring at each other, alternating between frustration of the subject that immediately came to mind and hesitance of it, they both turned to Ranulf with a more resigned look between the two.

"In that case... May we perhaps ask you for advice on a few things? I do apologize for-"

But Ranulf was quick to wave off Marx's concerns and stop him mid-sentence.

"I get it, that's fine. I know it's not exactly the easiest subject to talk about to just any laguz. Fire away."

Even just this much was enough to ease the two, but then came the actual questions. As amusing as it was to see Corrin and Kamui watch and listen intently the moment Ranulf moved closer to sit near the two kings and talk, especially when the two alternated between surprise, intrigue, horror, and even had their own questions to ask, Soren had better things to focus on. Things like plotting how feasible it would be to capture and strangle Loki to death. He buried his face in his hands, taking his time slowly moving his hands down to reveal an overly exhausted look.

"...The Order of Heroes certainly know how to attract quite the unique bunch of enemies... Is there even a tactical point to this besides being horridly annoying and demeaning for the mere sake of it?"

"The best I can come up with, besides it being merely in Loki's nature, is Loki has feelings for Kiran...for better or worse." Given it was _Loki_, Alfonse could fully believe no matter how deep Loki's feelings ran for Kiran, even just the bare minimum was enough for her to think of Kiran as a toy to play with, if not eventually break. Soren merely groaned at the idea of such a flimsy motive, but for what he saw, he could believe Alfonse's theory as well.

"So, other than having sentient dragon versions of catnip among us, what now?"

"Soreeeen..." Yet again, Sharena was left overly frustrated of Soren's curt words, not that Soren cared. "I mean... besides keeping a closer eye on any dragons we run into, and of Loki, the only news I've received was overhearing some of the heroes uncover a cave. Lilina said there were tons of pretty, colorful coral all over, and the cave led out to a beach~"

"And from the reports I've received from our troops, everything else still seems to be in order even after last night." At least, even with the concerns over their friends, Anna brightened in backing Sharena's news with good news of her own. "The Micaiah and Elincia who visited that version of Hoshido returned to their own version of Tellius safely. Thanks to collaboration with Hoshido's and Nohr's soldiers, and with the Greil Mercenaries, we took what we've learned of the incident last night to strengthen our defenses in Ryoma's Hoshido and in your Crimea and Daein. Ike also must've put in quite a good word with Ylisse, because they're offering their assistance as well."

"Oh?" Soren glanced somewhat toward Ike at the news. Even when Ike seemingly focused on training with Kiran, not only did he keep up with Kiran's clumsy attempts to take a swing, of which Ike defended himself with ease, but he still maintained his ability to guard against Kiran while taking notice of Soren's odd stare.

"Ah. Lucina said she was interested in going as well, with Kamui's invitation. There was someone there she wanted to meet, or so she said. Not that I pried. Ah, Kiran, watch your-"

"Ah-!"

Unfortunately, as much as Ike warned Kiran to mind his feet, he lost balance again, which Ike was quick to grab him by the scruff of his coat in time to catch him before he fell, and just as easily set him back on his feet again. Soren merely shrugged.

"I think that's enough, Kiran. You did well, but you're trying to do too many different fighting styles at once."

"H-ha... I...ha.... I-I guess I see your.....haa....your point..." As much as Kiran was frustrated he was far from able to master even one style, Ike had a point that he wouldn't get far burning himself out too much trying to force three of them at once. While Ike helped him occasionally catch him by the back in distrusting Kiran's unstable steps on his way to sit, Ike hardly broke a sweat otherwise, nor minded the training.

"Anyone else?"

"Ooh! Me!" Without any hesitation, Sharena stood up from her seat while Kiran held his training sword to offer to her. With a spring in her step, she happily traded the sword with the wooden training staff Ike previously used to defend against Kiran while he prepared himself with the sword. Like Kiran, Ike was more focused on defending over actually striking Sharena, but with how cheerful and energized she was, it was good enough for her.

"Alright, when you're ready." Ike braced himself, not so much for the impact, but to stay alert of Sharena's movements to catch her swings. Eager and ready as ever, Sharena jumped to the task.

Before long, they were at it for much of the day. Despite last night, the rest of the day was quiet, and to everyone's relief, there were a few slow, quiet days ahead of all of them before the festival in Hoshido. It gave enough room to breathe and allow Sharena the luxury not only to spend her energy to train like Kiran had, but left her secured in the knowledge she could have time to rest and recover after anyways. While Ike endured and caught Sharena's swift strikes long enough to tire her out as well, Ike finally relented just in time for Marx, Ryoma, Corrin, and Kamui to finish their thorough questioning with Ranulf for the five to practice their own training of helping Marx and Ryoma with their dragon forms.

Already, having dragon stones for themselves helped them significantly to quicken their transformations and yet eased them enough to make the process far smoother than their first time. They were clumsy, slow and lumbering at first in their pawsteps, but the longer Ranulf, Corrin and Kamui worked on them, the quicker they eased to a more familiar grace in their movements and force in their attacks. The point wasn't to defeat Ranulf or either of dragon twins, and they held back on purpose keeping that in mind, but their other form slowly felt natural to them the longer they trained in them. Flying was unfortunately well out of Ranulf's paws, and not Kamui's or Corrin's strong suit even now, but it put their minds at ease they could turn this curse into another weapon of sorts to fall back on.

Changing back, however, went mostly well, but not without certain hiccups. They were mostly back to their original selves when training wore everyone out, but be it inexperience, or from exhaustion, they initially changed back to a form akin to Ranulf's of retaining fluffy ears, fluffier tails, and a pair of wings heavily contrasting one another in theme. At least Corrin and Kamui both helped calm them enough to change back the rest of the way, but not without giggling or teasing, especially with how quickly they learned to emote like Ranulf in the way they twitched their ears and tails.

Still, for their first day, they left the training grounds with much more hope of the situation than before training. However, as proud as Kiran was for the two bouncing back from carefully masked uncertainty to a familiar aura of confidence and pride, he wasn't nearly as focused of their earlier discussions with Ranulf as Corrin and Kamui were, trusting the two in filling him in later of it if it was really that dire for him to know.

While Kamui returned more to Hoshido's direction by the route of going to Shirasagi and then his castle, and Corrin retreated back to Nohr to meet Silas back in Krakenburg, Kiran stuck closer between Ryoma and Marx while Soren tried hard to mask his emotions at the way Sharena overdid her training so much that Ike didn't hesitate to carry her, albeit in the form of giving her a piggyback ride back to the general area of her and Alfonse's home-away-from-home. Try as Ranulf may, he couldn't crack Soren's mask all the way to expose his mixed feelings of not just the sight, but what Ranulf and Ike both suspected were signs of Soren softening more to the Order of Heroes to degrees he couldn't hide as quickly nowadays.

* * *

"You want me to do what now?"

Dressed down in looser, cozier clothes, Kiran sat with his back against the cushion of the pillows of their bed. Despite still keeping his hair tied, the band held a ponytail too low along his hair that it did little to prevent long, black strands from loosely curving over either of his shoulders, especially without a hood to keep it all tucked away, or the energy to fix it. Ryoma and Marx faced him and stared him down, each sitting on opposing sides of the mattress, but nonetheless cornering him against their hoard of pillows. As much as the two looked to Kiran with softened stares, Marx of the two knew how awkward his request was from the moment it left his lips, let alone watching Kiran's confusion unfold.

"To bite us." he repeated. If not for how sincere yet nervous his request was, or how he and Ryoma grew up in a completely different environment from Kiran, the summoner nearly thought Marx was trying to tell him to go screw himself. "The bite is a way for manakete to mark one another as their mates. According to Ranulf, it would protect you."

"Er... if you say so, but how? From what?" Unfortunately, Kiran didn't exactly hide the fact that much of what Ranulf told them went right over his head while training with Ike, but Marx and Ryoma remained patient, if concerned and apologetic.

"So long as we don't claim each other, the more desperate and deprived of the manaketes will keep seeking us out to attack us and try to claim us instead, like the ones from last night. We're concerned too that for the changes Ranulf could pick up from you, there'll be manaketes who will come and attack you as well to try to claim you."

It didn't bode well when Kiran seemed to hold an uncomfortable look he aimed at the mattress, rather than look either of them in the eyes, the moment Marx spoke about changes. Ryoma sighed, gently trying to redirect Kiran with a careful touch to lift Kiran's chin to center his faded blue eyes to lock with Ryoma's grey and Marx's red eyes.

"Kiran, you know nothing will change how either of us feel for you, right?"

He still found a way to look away and break eye contact, but while it took a moment, Kiran looked back after trying to brush off his hesitance.

"Good..." As much as the hesitance left him concerned, some confirmation was still better than none. He moved his hand away from Kiran's face to gently reach for Kiran's hand. The entire time, Kiran, although uncomfortable for the subject matter, relaxed and didn't protest otherwise to how much Ryoma kept touching him. It took a moment, but it left him and Marx hopeful when Kiran started to smile.

"So that's really all it takes? I just have to bite both of you and you'll both be safe? Kinda weird, but ok!" Maybe he still didn't quite understand the specifics of how it all worked, but it scared him how close he was to failing to protect both of them last night, and for what little he understood, he knew it was worth it regardless to prevent a similar attack time and again.

Unfortunately, from how Ryoma and Marx looked at each other, unable to decide whether to be happy for Kiran's enthusiasm or concerned otherwise, it wasn't quite that simple.

"There's another meaning to the bite that you should know first before we proceed, Kiran... To the laguz and manakete, that kind of bonding mark signifies an even stronger bond than marriage. The implications between a bonded couple are numerous, but to put it bluntly, to bond is to proclaim one another as their soulmates. Knowing that... would you still be comfortable with this?"

Even with Kiran's acceptance of his proposal for Kiran to marry both of them, he felt this went well past the scope of what he originally proposed.

"Sure!" Which left him immediately concerned at just how quickly and happily Kiran responded. It was less he held doubts of where Kiran's feelings were, but rather, he heavily suspected Kiran didn't quite consider the full weight of how significant this was.

"Kiran, please, consider this much more carefully..." As much as Marx didn't want to dismiss Kiran's answer, at the same time he held the same suspicions. "This isn't simply like marriage. Once we do this, the bond will be much more difficult to undo if you change your mind. While it _is_ true it'll protect the three of us, there is so much else this will bring otherwise. Are you truly sure you don't need more time to consider this?"

Thankfully, Marx got through to him, and he wasn't quite so quick the second time to blurt out an answer without giving it more thought. Perhaps hypocritically, the fact Kiran took more time the second time not only relieved the two kings he was taking much more serious consideration, but also terrified them now that he might be having second thoughts even just to marry them. It was a rather unfortunate emotional balancing act, but both anxiously perked up when Kiran spoke again.

"Before we do this, I want to ask a few things."

"Go ahead." Even if both of them dreaded it, Ryoma worse so, they prepared to answer his questions.

"You two can't bite each other and bond just between the two of you?"

"That's... possible..." But also not exactly the answer either of them hoped for. Ryoma's heart sank that what was initially just a what-if they asked to Ranulf might not be as hypothetical as they hoped.

"Are you reconsidering, Kiran...?" As much as Marx tried to give Kiran a chance to decide what was best for him, his eyes weren't quite as bright as before, and his demeanor didn't seem quite as strong.

"Wha- _No._" As much as he had a point to where his questions were going, he briefly became distracted at how deflated and hopeless Ryoma and Marx both suddenly turned. With how flustered he himself got, their hope was renewed, but the way the two perked up again was with all the confidence of a pair of kittens debating on how close they want to move up to Kiran. "No, it's not that."

"Then...?" "So your concern is...?"

"You sure you two want me involved still? I mean, you two sure you don't want to just be together on your own without me? You two don't _really_ need me, right?"

Going from the mixture of confusion and hurt in the looks they gave to him, perhaps he didn't think his words through well enough. He held enough nerve to throw his insecurities out in the open before it was too late, but at what cost?

"...It... came out wrong, um..." But then it was too late to think of a gentler way to take back what he said, whether or not he wanted to try to reword it. "Sorry, never mind. Forget it. It was stupid."

But it was also too late even for that. At first, he saw not just how both of them took in his questions, but how differently the two showed their confusion, their pain, and their own doubts. While Marx was quicker to resign himself, Ryoma initially had a few times of repeatedly attempting to say something, hesitating, and then giving up. Even the grip to Kiran's hand alternated on barely touching him, to squeezing somewhat tightly.

What he didn't expect was the mood to suddenly change for the better. The more they thought it over, the more Kiran watched the two reach their own epiphanies in their own pace, then realize they might've shared a similar thought as one another. Before Kiran knew, what began as Marx weakly and half-heartedly laughing under his breath turned into Ryoma starting to laugh a bit with him, and both eventually chuckling enough that Kiran nervously tried to laugh with them despite having no idea why the other two were laughing.

"Haha~ we're terrible at this~" Ryoma shook his head, easing off his chuckling while looking to Kiran with a soft smile. He tried to be gentler again in his hold of Kiran's hand.

"Haa~ Indeed~" Likewise, Marx tried to calm down as well, but rather than take Kiran's other hand, he shifted closer to sit next to Kiran's side.

"H-haha... um... right... terrible..." But where Ryoma and Marx clearly realized something together, Kiran was clueless. "Terrible at what again?"

At least Kiran's cluelessness didn't spoil the mood. If anything, the two seemed even more amused and, as he was much more keenly aware, kept moving closer to either of his sides now.

"Let us clarify this much first: Yes. We both still want you."

Already, a lot of tension eased off of Kiran's shoulders, although just as quickly dampened again at not just how much Kiran felt he hurt the two, but also made it worse than better while doing it. While Kiran's instincts still screamed at him how much he messed up and should've bolted out the room by now, Ryoma and Marx not only remained warm, inviting, and protective of him, but both knew as much from Kiran's body language to immediately try to comfort him out of those thoughts.

"It's different here, Kiran. It won't be like back then again." Marx followed along with Ryoma's points likewise. "Perhaps we're all in need of practice to strengthen our communication skills and confidence with one another after all, but Ryoma's correct. We both do still want you with us, and not simply for the sake of our own protection. Though we want to protect you as well, especially if that kind of danger can be avoided completely, we also can't force you into something this important either."

Even if the thought hurt a little, the two realized it was putting far too much on Kiran's shoulders all at once to ask after all. At least they both took comfort how much Kiran relaxed again around them, and of him voicing hiss insecurities, no matter how raw. But they both resigned themselves to trying to come up with alternative ways of combating other dragons when the time comes.

"...Soooo where do I bite?"

"Ranulf recommended the neck."

"_Ryoma._"

Which surprised both of them that even after everything, Kiran not only still wanted to bond with the two after all. but it caught Ryoma off guard so much of how casual Kiran still was of the subject that he spoke out of reflex faster than even he realized, only to feel guilt when Marx called him out for it.

"Kiran, are you absolutely sure?"

"Mmhmm. Where do I sign? Or uh... bite? You meant bite as in _bite_, right? Or was it something else you had to do?"

It left Marx even more baffled the more Kiran continued, but not only did he laugh a bit in disbelief, but he let out a breath when Ryoma roughly patted him on the back when he seemed far more thrilled of Kiran's questions than Marx recalled ever seeing from Ryoma before once the realization set in.

"Hah~ I think we've asked him enough, Marx." Which, as calm and amused as he seemed, Ryoma felt a carefree joy he could barely remember feeling in a long time. It surprised even Marx of such, but it was a welcome surprise. He finally let Kiran's hand go in brushing much of his long, brunette hair away and sliding off the fabric of his dark yukata, exposing the curve between his neck and shoulder. Nervously, Kiran was self-conscious not to look lower down, much as Marx briefly caught him hastily looking higher than he did initially. Not that Marx was one to talk either.

"According to Ranulf, the bonding mark is supposed to go over the scent gland. He recommended the one at either sides of our neck. Right about here." He reached over in tapping at himself at the curve. "It doesn't matter the side, or this specific gland, but he recommended this spot."

"So... like a hickey then." At least Kiran was quicker now to catch on, but it surprised him this was supposed to be far more intimate than he thought it was if it was just between humans. "So we're just supposed to bite each other and that's it?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Hard. Enough to break the skin and draw blood."

"E-enough to...?"

As much as Ryoma relayed what he and Marx learned as if it was perfectly normal and casual, Kiran froze up. With how exposed Ryoma was, Kiran became highly aware of how toned his muscles were from his neck, to his shoulders, to a bit of his collarbone. He was even more aware he couldn't accurately tell the difference between what was muscle and what were probably arteries instead, and for as poor as his medical and anatomical knowledge was, he knew enough of how bad it would be if he bit down too hard on an artery and shied away from Ryoma, to his confusion.

"Mn...?" Not only did he confuse Ryoma, but even Marx wasn't sure where his newfound nervousness was coming from. Was Kiran afraid of leaving visible hickies on them now?

"Uuh.... You said there were other areas you could do this in, right?" Ideally, areas that weren't potentially going to turn Ryoma into a fountain of blood. His anxieties were already overcoming him with outcomes that may be ridiculously overblown in reality, but to him was the inevitable conclusion.

"I believe Ranulf said the alternatives were either the back of our wrists or the inner thighs." Which just left Marx even more baffled why Kiran suddenly turned pale at his response.

"O-oh..." His cheeks flushed at the thought of hiking up Ryoma's yukata just to bite him up the thigh, let alone get into Marx's pants to do the same to him after. With his concerns he already had about biting him in the neck, he felt even more scared to bite him in the wrists instead, even if he was thinking of the opposite side of the wrist compared to what Marx meant.

"...Would you feel better if we bit you first, perhaps?" As much as Ryoma's earlier confidence fizzled out at seeing Kiran go through quite a few moods in succession, he held more than enough faith in him now that the issue wasn't about having second thoughts of bonding so much as the process. For someone who was highly concerned as to freeze up in being _too_ concerned, Kiran slowly and nervously nodded without much second thought of he himself possibly bleeding out instead. With a pair of huffs torn between amusement, concern and disbelief, he watched Ryoma and Marx move around along the bed until both were looming over either of his shoulders, fussing over him in ways he himself was too lazy to by gently pulling his hair back and smoothing it out along his back while exposing either of his shoulders.

"Hm~ Fair enough. Thank you for your trust in us, Kiran." Even if it went completely over Ryoma's head where Kiran's _actual_ concerns came from, he didn't mind sharing the first bite with Marx, give or take the two being careful not just with Kiran's hair, but gently unbuttoning the top three rows of buttons and freeing his shoulders from his shirt.

"Actually, how to approach this... Do you recall what Ranulf said of order and timing?"

"Hm... I don't believe he said much of anything pressing of it, but..."

"Ah, no matter then. We can do simultaneous bites on his neck, just to be sure."

Skittish as Kiran was, he remained mostly still while letting the two try to discuss how to approach this. At least he took comfort where while he was too nervous, both Ryoma and Marx held more confidence and seemed to know exactly what to do. Between a few "relax, it'll be ok"s and "stay still"s, he felt either of them grab either of his arms just below the shoulders while Marx and Ryoma stared at one another. While Marx began quietly counting down from three with the fingers of his free hand, and Ryoma nodded once he counted down to 1, Kiran stiffened up straight as he felt both of them lean over and suck on either sides of his neck. He could feel their hot breaths along his skin and became so easily distracted with the two sucking and licking an area they picked at his neck for themselves that he was barely aware when the two actually bit down hard on him. The scent of lychees and gingerbread made his head swim that he barely even processed the pain of the bites, or that his breaths picked up the longer the two tried to lick the wounds they each inflicted on him.

Unfortunately, just as Kiran proved to be terrible of combating his anxieties, when Ryoma and Marx both finally pulled away from him, they proved they were equally terrible at planning ahead for matters like this. While they didn't bite hard enough to tear up his neck or seriously injure him, no amount of licking was enough to stop the bleeding for the extent of the damage they caused. Even if Kiran wasn't at risk, the two went from confident yet overjoyed to claim Kiran for themselves, to mildly panicked and fussy when the blood at his neck started to build up and threaten to flow down.

"Uuuh..." "Crap, um..."

"Kiran, hold still for a moment, ok? Marx, don't let him move."

"Right, right, just hurry, will you?"

"Huhn...?"

"N-nothing, Kiran, hold still."

Fortunately, Kiran was still in enough of a daze not to catch on. Even better, while Ryoma tried to be subtle of otherwise bolting out of the bed to grab washcloths and a bottle of vulnerary, Marx leaned up in kissing Kiran and easing him to hold the kiss with him. He barely tasted the copper tones of his own blood, noticed the state of his neck, or noticed Ryoma leaving as he had in favor of Marx successfully keeping his attention on him.

"Got them." Quickly, Ryoma moved back on the bed with the supplies, already preparing one cloth to soak with some vulnerary while Marx still continued to distract Kiran.

"Grrm, hrrm Rhrrmhrrm." Marx still held the kiss long enough to buy Ryoma time, only parting ways when Ryoma loomed over with the cloth in hand. While Marx left Kiran near-breathless and even more in a daze, he was even less aware of why Ryoma was dabbing the cloth along his neck until long after his wounds were already starting to close.

"Is it over already...?" At least a crisis was averted, overblown as it may be, but what relieved the two even more was how oblivious Kiran was. Though the two didn't initially say anything, both of them tried to examine his neck, noticing the vulnerary had no effect to heal away bruises similar to the bite marks even if the bites themselves healed away. Ryoma carefully traced one of the marks with his fingertip, not daring to take the risk of rupturing the skin a second time despite the mark feeling as sturdy as the rest of Kiran's undamaged skin.

"...Is that...?"

Ryoma shrugged. "I guess it worked."

"Hm..."

Thankfully, even when Kiran snapped out of his daze, he was patient all the same of Marx and Ryoma looking over his neck. It wasn't the most flattering thing to have a pair of large bruises on either side of his neck, but what stood out even more to them was how the bruises started changing colors now as they settled more on his skin. The mark Ryoma left took on a much more vivid shade of red while the mark Marx left behind was dark violet. To their relief, it didn't hurt Kiran to touch, nor was he in pain even well after realizing what his two lovers did to him. He couldn't quite see his own marks as clearly as they could, but he remained bright-eyed and perky in contrast to the two slowly accepting that claiming him was a success, despite the hiccups.

"So that should keep you safe now, Kiran, but as for who's next..."

It took a bit longer to find the answer. The two locked eyes and stared at each other for a moment, cycling through various expressions as if the two held a quiet conversation with one another. When they couldn't come to a conclusion even then, they fell back to shaking fists in unison before Ryoma grinned in triumph of his open hand in contrast to Marx sighing while maintaining his fist.

Yet again, he found himself exposing his neck. This time, however, he not only moved his hair off his shoulder again like last time, but lowered his yukata even further to expose both his shoulders and even more of his chest. He was ready last time, and he was even more ready this time, especially now that he held a deeper confidence in Kiran to follow through with Marx.

Initially, Kiran stared down the same veins and muscles as what scared him off in the first place, but he found it easier to reign in his anxieties this time and prove Ryoma's confidence right. As Marx shifted to move to Ryoma's other shoulder once Kiran seemed to focus on a side, the two gave Kiran as much time as he needed to prepare himself. He tried to mimic what Ryoma and Marx did to him a moment ago of grabbing his arm, though also like them, his grip was weak and gentle. Where Ryoma and Marx did so as self-restraint not to put too much strength to break either of Kiran's arms, Kiran neglected that Ryoma's arm was far too thick and sturdy to need such a delicate touch in return.

"Kiran, you can squeeze harder if you'd like." Although he did find it touching all the same. He could feel Kiran try to heed his words, but even with Kiran easing into a tighter grip, it was still far gentler than Marx's hold.

"Ready Kiran?"

He nodded. He kept an eye out for Marx to try to follow his lead in leaning up against Ryoma to go for his neck, if a bit too much so as his movements were hesitant and occasionally held back like he tried too hard to keep in sync with Marx. Ryoma could feel the difference between Marx's confidence and Kiran's lack thereof when he felt Marx at ease to repeat what he did to Kiran and prepare Ryoma's skin for his own mark. By comparison, Kiran was hasty of how much of Ryoma's neck he took in to suck that he had to take two more attempts not to overshoot or undershoot, and the bite he took was tiny, and barely like a pinch.

"Harder." Ryoma's breaths picked up a little, but he focused enough to reach over and pat Kiran along his back to encourage him. He wasn't quite as quick to get distracted no matter how much Marx's scent and attention was clouding his mind. Still, while Kiran bit down much harder than before, it was still not strong enough to break his skin compared to the definite bite Marx took.

"H-harder. Don't hold back." His voice quivered a bit as Ryoma held back from moaning. He tried to rub Kiran's back more, but it was rougher and less focused. Kiran looked to him with nervousness he could barely see, but where Marx had already been in the process of licking the wound in his mouth for a moment, Kiran took a breath before trying to bite down harder against Ryoma's skin.

At last, the bite was enough for Ryoma to abruptly suck in air as he felt Kiran cut into him. He could feel Kiran flinch mid-bite and still tried to rub against his back to ease him, but he tried to relax at the sharp contrast for how confident Marx was versus Kiran starting to panic the more he outright tasted Ryoma's blood. Marx eventually backed off from his side of Ryoma's neck while gently patting Kiran's shoulder to coax him to do the same, seeing their handiwork for himself as Ryoma tried to quickly calm his breathing and regain himself while his neck formed trickles of blood on either side, moreso on Kiran's side than Marx's. Better prepared for the aftercare, Marx similarly began preparing the cloth to soak with vulnerary and guide Kiran to help heal Ryoma before his anxieties could take over to focus on the disproportionate amount of blood on either sides of his neck. Ryoma remained still and calm the entire time while patiently waiting for them to finish, until all that remained were bruises on either sides of his neck. While Marx still left what was quickly turning into yet another purple bruise, Kiran's was blue in tone.

"You did well." Much as Kiran felt he did the opposite, he perked a little more when his anxieties of what could've been were heavily proven false, and moreso when Ryoma proved the marks didn't hurt him either. As much as Marx did better, Ryoma knew just as much as he did it was a matter of encouraging Kiran not to scare him off before he could mark Marx's neck, rather than just praise alone.

With just him left, Marx was already unbuttoning his shirt. But where Kiran merely unbuttoned much of the top, Marx opened his entire shirt and stripped down. He initially tried to rub his neck and tilt his head in working out a kink first, but he held a similar trust in the two as he prepared for his own turn to be marked.

"One more time, ok?" Ryoma patted Kiran on the shoulder as both got in position to either of Marx's sides. Compared to how he was when they started, the two brightened to see Kiran slowly come out of his shell in nodding much more confidently, and holding Marx's arm with a much firmer grip from the start.

"Ah-! K-Kiran this isn't a race-aah~"

Except Ryoma taught him a bit too well this time. Where Ryoma was initially ready to lean in to prepare Xander first, Marx gasped when Kiran went straight to business on his side and chomped his mouth down swiftly and tightly at his neck. Thankfully, Kiran didn't actually bite him while doing this, but the abrupt way he attacked his neck left Marx slipping out a moan he couldn't catch in time to stop.

"Slower this time, please..." He tried to rub Kiran's back similarly, but his voice was already rougher than before. As much as Ryoma hesitated in giving the two a moment first before trying his own attempt, Kiran realized his mistake and tried to make it up to him in return.

"Aaah~"

Although Marx wasn't prepared for having his neck nuzzled either.

The second attempt went much more smoothly. Kiran wasn't quite so skittish of trying to follow Ryoma's lead to a T like he did before with Marx, but he also tried to match Ryoma's method of preparing Marx first with gentler sucking before the bite. Unfortunately, no amount of gentleness or preparation could stop Marx's feelings brewing easier compared to the other two, be it the way his cheeks flushed or how easy it was to wind him up to moan. Compared to how calmly Kiran and Ryoma took their bites, Marx was weak enough to the attention to his neck to moan even louder when Ryoma and Kiran bit down onto his neck.

By the time Ryoma and Kiran both backed off, Marx's mind was so hazy that he barely even realized, and was just as heated when he felt the rubs to his neck from the aftercare to his wounds. As much as the two gave him a moment to recollect himself, Marx was vaguely aware of the knock to the door, or the way Ryoma of the three straightened his yukata up and slipped away, having been the most technically presentable of the three.

"Marx, are you ok...?"

Kiran watched as Marx laid against the bed, still trying to catch his breath and nerves. He trusted Ryoma enough to be fine on his own in the meantime, but his anxieties brewed on whether or not Marx being so easily worked up was a good thing or not.

"I'm fine... I-I'll be fine in a moment..." Although his pride would take a bit longer to heal after such a display.

"You sure? I'm sorry..." As much as Marx tried to reassure him, Kiran worried his earlier roughness might've actually hurt him after all. He tried his best to help Marx more, but with little idea of what was specifically wrong, his help amounted to reaching over and trying to massage Marx at his neck where he left his mark.

Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect. But between loud moans, and even stronger feelings brewing in him, Marx found it harder to explain himself.

* * *

  
"Thank you again, Ryoma. Though, I do apologize again for the intrusion."

It wasn't enough that Alfonse had to intrude on Ryoma so late into the night, but he recognized enough that the specific kind of yukata Ryoma wore was a sign he would've turned in for the night if not for the intrusion after the marking. He did share his concerns of the visible bruising on Ryoma's neck he couldn't hide with his yukata, but with Ryoma easing him off the subject of it, he trusted him enough not to pry in guessing it had to do with his earlier discussion with Ranulf.

"Think nothing of it, Alfonse. It was an important matter, and I'm glad to provide any aid I can."

The help, as Ryoma found out, were Hoshido's ninjas. Askr's forces were strong, but what they had in strength, they lacked in variety. He wanted to investigate in a farther part of Zenith, but Gustav's forces lacked the skill and subtlety to investigate without drawing attention not just to themselves, but from Gustav himself. It was something Alfonse wanted to investigate of his own accord outside of Gustav's authority, but between Kiran's incredibly lax power and authority over the other heroes, Gustav's strict reigns he held over how much authority he would give his own children, and his reluctance to trust the spies among Kiran's barracks, he figured it would be better to ask Ryoma for help directly than settle for just Saizo or Kagero instead.

"I'll report to you my findings after the festival then. That is, assuming Saizo and Kagero don't already do so."

But besides the safe return of the ninjas, or hope that Alfonse's investigations prove fruitful, Ryoma and Alfonse parted ways while Ryoma focused more on returning to Marx and Kiran. The marks still didn't hurt him, but tracing along either marks with his fingers brewed up an odd fluttering in his chest he couldn't explain over the significance of them. As much as he wished for something much more flattering than bruises that were understandably highly questionable out of context, he knew what they really meant, and it was enough to him for now.

"Sorry to keep the two of you waiting, I- ...er.... I'm interrupting, aren't I?"

Hastily, Ryoma stepped in and worked on closing and barring the doors. He didn't quite mind the sight of Marx looming over Kiran or thought much of it, but he knew as much they also didn't need an audience.

"Erm... Ryoma, we-_ah_... we um... h-how to put this..." Despite Ryoma's efforts to give the two privacy, Marx and Kiran didn't make any attempt to pick up whatever it was they were doing. In fact, not only did Ryoma notice the way the two seemed timid and nervous ever since he came back, but he could hear Kiran subtly whimper. Even as Marx spoke, one slight shift from Marx's part just to turn to face him was enough for his voice to crack and falter briefly.

"Heh, no need to be shy, it's just between the three of us." He noticed the way Marx only just regained his breath while Kiran was still trying to calm himself. Of the two, they still seemed highly uncomfortable, but made no attempt to move off one another despite the mood in the room being tense and uncertain.

"...Unless you'd rather I give the two of you space...?" Reading the room, Ryoma's own demeanor faltered in thinking he wasn't welcome in his own bedroom despite all this time thinking the three were on equal terms with one another. At least this much was quickly proven false at just how quickly the two panicked more trying to tell him otherwise.

"No no no!" "That's not it, Ryoma, please...!"

Unfortunately, their sudden movements made Marx wince even more, and made Kiran whimper again. Uncertain of what to make of it, Ryoma gave the two the benefit of the doubt to approach them and reunite with them on their bed, even if two of the three were under the blankets Marx somewhat lifted up with his body.

"...Is something wrong?"

"We erm... we might've gotten carried away with one another while you were out..."

"So I can see, but it's fine. There's no need for the two of you to look so guilty of it." But was that really it? He accepted the two equally, and thought both of them felt the same. Given all the other tells, however, Ryoma suspected more than just the two of them worrying of cheating on him with each other going on, despite how it looked.

"No, no, we know that, but it's... erm... Do you remember how Kiran admitted Loki cursed-"

_"W-we're stuck! I'm sorry, Marx!"_

Marx groaned heavily. He wanted to try to handle the problem delicately, but out of panic, Kiran blurted the truth out and couldn't hold back his fear and worries anymore of messing up. Unsurprisingly, it left Ryoma highly confused of what Kiran meant.

"...Stuck?" For their first time, he didn't know what to feel or make of it, but out of respect for how flustered, embarrassed and red in the face the two were, he tried not to laugh, be it from pity or otherwise.

"Marx got _really_ heated and cuddly, a-and he- and...! 'D-don't worry about it', he said, 'everything's ok' he said, but I can't pull out and I think I'm hurting him and what if-"

"_Kiran._ Kiran, calm down, it's ok."

For how quickly the words tumbled out of Kiran's mouth, and how Marx was just as quick to lean down and nuzzle him to try to calm him, at least Ryoma was assured that whatever got the two stuck in the first place, Marx seemed far more accepting of it of the two.

"It's alright, Kiran. We'll figure this out. Just let me look and I'll see what I can do to help."

Carefully, Ryoma navigated his way around the two in trying to comfort them between rubbing Kiran's shoulder and rubbing circles along Marx's back. Eventually, Marx took over the task of trying to fuss over and soothe Kiran, at least giving Ryoma the idea that both didn't seem badly hurt of whatever caused them to get stuck, even if it was a frustrating turn of events for them all the same.

Maybe Kiran was intimidated because it was their first time between all of them, Ryoma thought. Being intimate could have its scarier moments, especially with how easily he or Marx could tower over him and bring about quite a number of power imbalances just on their different body sizes alone. Surely, it couldn't be _that_ bad, right? Maybe Kiran's anxieties made him freeze up and Marx tried to spare his feelings, for all Ryoma knew. Admittedly, Ryoma would've done the same if their roles reversed. Carefully, Ryoma peeled the blanket off from along Marx's back to pull further away from the two, looked down to try to get a sense of where they both went wrong and

Oh.

That...

Yep, he could definitely see now they were literally stuck together.

"Gods, Marx doesn't this hurt? Kiran, are you ok?" Was it some kind of an allergic reaction on Kiran's part then? But why is the swelling only focused on his genitals and nowhere else? To say nothing of what Kiran's swell was doing to stretch out a part of Marx the Nohrian king barely had a day to grow accustomed to have.

"H-hurt is a bit of a strong word, but ah... ***ahem***... I don't _hate_ this, it was more it came as a surprise." He could tell too Marx wasn't merely trying to mask his true feelings for Kiran's sake either. It was certainly awkward for him to admit in the act, but Ryoma took comfort (in an odd way) that it only looked far more painful between the two than it was. Still, now that he saw for himself what went on, he was keen not to let the two part ways too much or too far to potentially change that.

"I-I'm fine, but... Marx... I'm so sorry, I didn't know..." Likewise, Ryoma was surprised that as painful as the swelling looked, Kiran seemed more upset with himself of trapping Marx and worried of hurting him than suffering for what was happening to his body. As concerned as Ryoma was of the sight, he could see he was just as genuine of not holding back or hiding his pain for their sakes either... not that Kiran was particularly good at doing such anyways.

He sighed. A part of him was curious of Kiran's changes, but a part of him also stewed in anger that _this_ was what Loki's plan amounted to. Combined with him not being sure which was the intended plan and which was the unfortunate side effect between frustrating the three with this or making Kiran attract every dragon to attack him one way or another, the thought of breaking his own honor code to give Loki a slow, painful, excruciating death was certainly tempting. For now, as much as he knew he needed to meditate for some time after tomorrow to wash away that thought before he could risk letting it come to pass, he knew his lovers needed him right then.

He had just enough insight from the two on at least having some idea when the problem started that locked the two in place. He kept his voice soft and gentle, luring the two into a calmer, relaxed mood with his words while he helped the two gently turn and lower until they could both lay on their sides on the bed. Even if Ryoma focused solely on trying to help his lovers relax enough to ease the swelling and separate the two, he was even more relieved that other than their nerves, or Kiran's worries for Marx's sake despite his anxiousness blinding him of how calm Marx truly was of it, they both otherwise didn't take much issue of what happened by itself. It left Ryoma almost intrigued of it, despite the circumstances, but he tried not to voice it outside of words of comfort here or playful verbal jabs there.

It took a little over an hour, but they were finally able to slip free, just in time for the three of them to burn each other out and crash well into the night.

* * *

  
As the sun began to set in Hoshido, Shirasagi remained as bright as ever in spite of the eventual nightfall. The entire capital maintained a strong, warm, golden glow, be it from lanterns, torches or otherwise, all while the dark skies lit up every so often with bursts and showers of colorful light. The Fireworks Festival was in full swing, and the turnout was even busier than the one in the other Hoshido, mostly thanks to Kamui's, Corrin's, Ike's and Kiran's connections.

But besides there being far more people (not to mention security) this time around, Kiran spent more time with Marx and Ryoma before the event than he did during it. Days before the event, not only did he watch the two rehearse, but he himself practiced similarly... in a manner of speaking. Hours before the event, Ryoma fussed over both him and Marx. It was almost like how the three prepared in the last festival, but this time, they prepared in Shirasagi's castle proper. More, where last time, the three were more relaxed, and Ryoma even lightened up enough to mess around a little with them, that casual side to him was hidden all over again in favor of being much more careful and thoughtful this time. Initially, Kiran wondered if he was acting like this because his and Marx's siblings were a room or so away, but even with feeling the way he combed and tied his hair, or strip open his robes to redo which side he previously folded over, he saw a soft look linger on his face well after the point Marx left the two alone.

This time, rather than simply watch different versions of themselves perform as an audience hidden among the masses, there was more excitement and stress on the fact they themselves had to perform instead. Even Kiran's outfit wasn't the same this time, nor was Marx's.

Marx's robes may have kept a similar color, but they were cut shorter and exposed more of his boots than before. He didn't wear any accessories past a headband that went over his hair, rather than under like his diadem.

Kiran's was even shorter. Where his yukata from before was long, flowing, and easy to hide his hands in if he so pleased, now he exposed so much of his legs that he gave away he wore similar stockings and boots as Marx did to hide away memories he'd rather not show off to all of Hoshido that night. What he couldn't hide away on his arms, now that his sleeves were shoulder-length, he hid with leather wrist wraps that were nigh identical to the ones the Micaiah of the other Tellius wore. Where he was plain and simple before, he wore various ornaments now either on his head like Marx, or strapped along his waist. It flustered him that by comparison, Ryoma remained in a yukata, if one with slightly more decoration compared to the much plainer yukata he wore in the other Hoshido, but Kiran trusted him enough to know best not to question it.

He especially heeded that thought when he parted ways with either of his lovers only to be dragged every which way by their siblings, seeing the sharp contrasts of what they dressed in between what would've been his sister-in-laws and how they contrasted from his would-be brother-in-laws. He also saw the contrast between the Hoshidan siblings and how they dressed with intent to dance, and the Nohrian siblings who were dressed more as honored guests.

The next thing he knew, he was on a stage, made more aware than ever of how many eyes were on him both familiar and otherwise. He practiced enough, and he watched the performers dance the same dance as he would all throughout town a moment ago, so surely, he had little excuse not to know now.

Then again, he also realized too late how much worse the pressure felt when he had to dance first out of him and the royals. It was too late to go back on his word to flee now, especially when he knew Marx and Ryoma were watching backstage, but he was definitely regretting his hastiness way back when of wanting to do this.

"Kiran, you can do it!"

He looked to the source of the voice. As much as Anna and Alfonse were rather nervous of Sharena calling out to him as he had, he could see they shared the same sentiments even if not quite the bravery of shouting such when the rest of the crowd went silent.

"Hoot~"

If also rather horrified that Feh chose that time to flutter over and perch on Kiran's head right then, having clearly escaped Sharena's hold of her. Even Marx and Ryoma seemed alarmed, then torn on whether or not to be amused in spite of semi-hushed giggling from the crowd.

Well... some fools dance, and some fools watch. He was a fool either way, so why not dance?

The music picked up and he fell into the same routine he practiced for the days leading up. Feh remaining firm on his head was all but forgotten in favor of being mindful of the swift yet flowing twists of his arms, the sweeping trail his palm fan led, the way his legs remained partially crouched and cautious where his toes tapped and where his feet pressed, and praying to every god in this world or otherwise that he wouldn't trip and fall on his face. He didn't see it, but Feh tried to follow Kiran's motions by vaguely mirroring the way his arms and hand moved with her wings. Even if she lacked his practice to match the timing, the fact there was an owl that would attempt the motions at all left the crowd amused, baffled and delighted. He tried desperately to keep in sync with his training as young adults and children, young or in their teens otherwise, followed along with his lead, all while trying to keep up the act of confidence to pretend like he knew what he was doing. He chanted as they had, shouting with a stronger voice than he was normally used to, dancing a fine line between trying to have fun yet not let his guard down so much as to risk screwing it all up.

To his immense relief, his part of the dance was nearing its end, and with a twirl in the other direction, and a 'march' in his dance toward the ends of the stage, his group slowly transitioned out as much older, imposing men followed Marx's lead out to the stage to replace them.

"You did well, Kiran." Marx managed to barely tell him in a hushed tone as the two passed one another. Their dances were similar, but where Kiran's group held more emphasis on his arms, Marx's group held more power and focus on his legs. They were slower and cautious in some ways, then quick in the motions of their arms yet stiff in how they carried themselves in their upper bodies otherwise. Compared to Kiran's varied group, Marx's group were more militant, yet held their own unique grace to them, with the only exception being Laslow's less-than-comfortable attempts to shift from his free-flowing routines to a dance mirroring Marx's. Little did he know, despite Marx's confidence on stage, he too was panicking all throughout the dance of trying not to screw up out of respect not just for Ryoma, but for the honor of Mikoto, Ikona, Sumeragi, Katerina, his departed siblings, and the people they lost in their fight to unite the three kingdoms. Eventually, he also transitioned off the stage in leading Laslow and the others toward the opposite end of the stage, slowly replaced by Sakura and Hinoka leading a line of women behind either of them from opposite ends of the stage.

As much as Kiran brightened in looking up to Ryoma at the pat on the shoulder, and both waited for Marx to return to them, Kiran focused back on the women as they danced. By then, Feh finally fluttered downward, anticipating Kiran to catch her and forcing Kiran to hold her the rest of the dance. Their dresses were much longer, and he noticed the way their shoes and posture put far more emphasis on balancing on their toes than even his own dance.

Watching the two manage, and knowing Sakura shared his own insecurities of performing in front of the crowd, he immediately regretted complaining so much to himself of the fear of losing his balance or messing up when Sakura's own routine was significantly harder.

The performance continued, but while Hinoka and Sakura eased and transitioned off, Sakura of the two headed toward Ryoma. All the nervousness and anxiousness she bottled up were now spilling out in the open in her relief she was done, and Ryoma, Kiran, and eventually Marx tried their best to comfort her. While Kiran gave her Feh to hug in her arms to calm down with her soft fluff, Marx ran off to help swap her geta for flatter sandals, recognizing she had just about reached her limit on her willingness to dance.

It took some time for Takumi to make his own appearance, but compared to the other dances, not only did he have a much smaller group, but his style of dance heavily differed from the others. Where theirs were like a lively, unisoned march, his dance emphasized more of his slower, fluid motions and the sweeping twirls and gestures he moved his legs and arms. More, where Marx and Kiran's fans were stiff, stagnant, and like paddles, his was a fan he not only continuously alternated in his dances of when to flick it open and when to keep it closed, but his dance in particular told a story of a warrior who would gracefully cut his foes with a spin, yet stiffly and calmly take aim and fire with a bow, alternating when his fan mirrored the motion of a sword's swing or the cock and recoil of a bow firing a not-so-invisible arrow when he cheated and tapped into powers he'd normally use with Fujin Yumi for added effect.

The next dance held a similar style to what Takumi completed, but the dancer to lead the stage was not only Azura, but a beautiful young man who held a very strong resemblance to her. Their dances were just as fluid, and they emphasized grace and storytelling over spirit, mood and unity among dancers. As much as Azura's dances were enchanting in general, the dance she practiced for the festival held a much happier mood to it compared to her much more solemn dance she was more accustomed to.

"Who's that?"

"Ah, you never met him? He's Azura's and Keaton's son, Shigure."

As much as he was surprised to hear Azura was a mother, Kiran could definitely see the resemblance and didn't question it. Although their dance would've had the grace and power to literally enchant water if they so pleased, they opted to wear long silk sashes of white and blue tones reminiscent of water instead. Their story, as far as what Kiran could tell, was of two water dragons who parted ways with one another across a gate, with Azura offering her blessings and farewells as Shigure 'crossed over' by leaving the stage directly, eventually meeting up with a surprised and shy Lucina in the audience whom didn't expect to be suddenly a part of the show, much to the amusement of her family at seeing a rare side to her that he invoked.

As expected, Ryoma was the last of the Hoshidan royals to dance, especially when Kamui and Corrin were far too shy to even attempt it. Not quite as expected, Ike followed his lead to dance with him from the other side of the stage. Kiran didn't quite pay attention to where Soren and Ranulf were in the audience before, but when he saw Ike on stage with Ryoma, not only did Kiran somehow find it much easier to realize where the two were, but he watched Soren's surprise and Ranulf's bright grin when the two caught on where Ike apparently disappeared to up to now. Even Anna, Sharena and Alfonse were stunned at the thought of Ike dancing, but brightened while locking eyes on the two, to say nothing of much of the other guests laguz or otherwise who Ike invited.

Perhaps Ryoma was mindful of where Ike's strengths and confidence were, because his movements were reminiscent of how he'd move in a battle. Instead of a sword or an axe, he flicked a golden-colored fan with one hand, and a blue one in the other, coordinating with Ryoma like the two were watching each other's backs. Ryoma's fans were completely black, but rather than use them like weapons, his fluid steps and motions with his arms were like a bird's. It was vaguely reminiscent of two fighters, a large, black bird and a swordsman armed with two swords, fighting alongside one another before eventually parting ways on opposite ends of the stage, but not before facing each other one last time with a parting flick of either of their fans matching gold for black before seeing each other off to their own different paths in life.

"Ah, Yune, where are you going?" As much as Micaiah's surprise was nearly drowned out to those too distracted by Ike or Ryoma to focus on her, Micaiah's tiny orange bird flew away from her for a moment in leaving the audience. As much as she trusted Yune to be safe, she was also highly flustered of where the bird wanted to flee to on such short notice, and she reserved some sense of concern that wasn't easy to pat away no matter how much Sothe tried to reassure her.

Still, when the royals finished their dance, and as the show concluded, the dance extended more among the people and the moods of the individual dancers along the streets than remain at the stage anymore. Fireworks were blaring again, and the marketplace was buzzing with attention, to Anna's delight. There was hardly any care or fear to be had right then, and better yet, no sign of Loki to crash the party this time either, if she ever showed up at all.

"Ah... So _this_ is where you went, Yune."

The tiny bird let out a soft chirp, nuzzling her head into a finger midway at the careful, gentle attempt to pet her. Even when Loki didn't appear, there was another guest who shied away from the public eye in favor of the calm privacy of the trees. His black hair loosely flowed over dark-toned yet ceremonial-looking robes, still trying to give his respects even when he avoided the notice of the hosts of such a festivity.

"So even now, you would still like to accompany the maiden of dawn? I suppose it is not my place to stop you, Yune, but... Please, do take care of her, and yourself as well, of course."

He smiled gently at the affirmative chirp of the tiny songbird. As surprising as it was to see in such a foreign world, he did take some solace to see there were equal amounts of not just beorc from a far flung future than his own time, and not just familiar laguz he knew to be affiliated with Ike and Micaiah, but even beasts who were native to this world. To see the people barely hold a care in the world of the obvious tells of the laguz, and even some who seemed intrigued and surprised than fearful of the sight, brought a nostalgic feeling he hadn't felt in ages to him.

He briefly looked to the tiny bird as she chirped at him again. Somehow, he too could understand her clearly just as Micaiah could.

"Ah, yes. It was surprising General Ike of all people would partake, but... I did see the message they tried to convey, yes." Given how long it was since the time such a story was based on up to now, he didn't know what mood to feel of it now. It was just what it was.

There was a tiny chirp again. This time, the bird focused down in the marketplace, just in time to see Micaiah locking arms with Sothe while speaking with Corrin and Silas. He paid little attention to their moods, but the tiny bird seemed happier for her, to a point even he could feel Yune's warmth toward the girl.

"Mn... I admit, to learn you've split yourself up even in part again, you must forgive me for having some concerns, Yune. But... I am pleased you and Ashera broke my expectations. I must unfortunately remain with the you that is now Ashunera, but... For this tiny part of you who wishes to remain as Yune, I wish for you to continue to find your own happiness as well."

The tiny bird turned to him with one last chirp, and earned one last gentle pet in return. He knew just as well as she did that were they to part any longer, Micaiah would begin to worry. Finally, the songbird flew away and startled not just Micaiah, but Corrin as well when she rather abruptly landed on Micaiah's head and announced her presence by fluffing up parts of her hair. Likewise, he retreated just in time to barely avoid being noticed by Feh, just as she mimicked Yune in landing on Corrin's head and surprising her likewise.

They were just as eager to cause mischief when both birds took notice of Kiran carefully trying to figure out the best approach to toss a ring over a prize, only for both to surprise him badly enough that the ring went straight upward and was caught by Elise as she watched right behind him, giggling the whole time with Sakura and Lissa.

* * *

  
"Are you sure you didn't want to stay out longer, Ryoma?"

Then again, they had more than enough leftovers they smuggled out of the festival in their convoys not only to last them all of dinner, but probably breakfast as well. To say nothing of how Kiran got even more carried away on souvenirs both won and bought this time compared to last time. He followed Ryoma's lead, admittedly feeling sore on his legs between dancing, walking, or just spending so much time on his feet that he wasn't as against the idea to crash as his question let on, but he knew as much as Marx did how important this all was to him.

"Yes, yes. I'm certain. Let the people enjoy the rest of the festivities, but... I wanted to save my energy for something more."

He couldn't blame Kiran's exhaustion, or how eager Marx was to set down the futons in the room and collapse against the cushioned mattress before even stripping out of his yukata proper, but where he left Marx to unwind with a loud, pent-up sigh as he finally settled to relax, Ryoma moved an arm around Kiran and held him closer to his side up until they got to his room and slid the door shut.

He was just as lazy about fully stripping from such overly formal attire either. Out of the three, Kiran was the only one mindful of at least gently easing himself on his way down to his knees before leaning and then falling against Ryoma, to his amusement. Not only did he find himself finally having a moment since the festival to let his full guard down, but their time finally alone left him feeling bolder. He leaned to kiss Kiran while keeping him close to him, at first feeling Kiran flinch in surprise when he initially felt bad of practically falling into Ryoma and bumping into him, but easing with his own laugh when Ryoma clearly didn't mind.

"Heheh~ Marx, you don't mind if we have our own turn, do you?" After all, they had their own fun already back in Askr, and he thought it would make the night even more special. While Marx was too burned out to even form coherent words between exhaustion and a bit too much sake, he managed just enough to lift a hand and waved the two off before lazily dropping it back against his chest, debating how comfy it'll be if he fell asleep in his current clothes and whether or not it was worth the effort to change out of it.

Initially, Kiran brightened that Marx didn't seem to mind either way and merely shifted just enough to turn his back on them. However, the more Ryoma nuzzled him, and the more it clicked what he meant by 'their own turn', memories quickly resurfaced of the rather unfortunate aftermath of Marx's own turn that Kiran initially tried to pull away from a confused Ryoma.

"Wait, you mean..?! But you saw what happened last time!"

"Mmhmm." He tried not to push his luck too much when Kiran pulled away, flustered as he was of the sudden mood shift. However, to Kiran's surprise, it changed little about Ryoma's own mood of it.

"And you _really_ want that to happen to you too?!"

"Hmhmhm~" Not that he knew what it meant for Ryoma to laugh in his throat, but he was even more flustered when Ryoma kissed him gently on the cheek, clearly not sharing the same fear Kiran did.

"...Last time took hours."

"We have all night."

"And you're really...?"

"Yes." He did at least relax more to see Kiran was more concerned of what he'd do to Ryoma than necessarily put off by the idea of being intimate, and he tried to be just a little bit bolder by nuzzling him again. As baffled as Kiran was of how nothing seemed to faze Ryoma much, least of all out of the idea, he sighed, laughed a little in disbelief, but returned the kiss while giving in.

Compared to Marx - who was much more willing to ease Kiran and somewhat tutor him, in a way, of how to even proceed - one moment he was kissing Ryoma and picking up in strength and frequency of such, and the next minute the two pinned each other against all manner of surfaces, sometimes against the walls and other times all along the floor. He barely remembered the process past hiking up Ryoma's yukata, but the two hazily realized their clothes were ruffled and slipped out of place if not thrown around the room somewhere entirely. As loud and heated as the two got, by that point, Marx crashed too hard to care, and the loud booms of the fireworks covering the sky was enough to almost entirely mask the noise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Je t'aime. Je ne peux pas vivre sans toi. - French for "I love you. I can't live without you."


	3. Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As new discoveries are made in and out of Askr, some discoveries might've been more than they were prepared for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! For post updates, questions, art and general random silliness in between, check me out at eriisaam.tumblr.com for more!

"I am Ryoma, High Prince of Hoshido, and he who inher...it...."

"I am Xander, Crown Prince of Nohr. Is this out....fi..."

"_What are _ ** _you_ ** _ doing here? _ And is that...? What on earth are you wearing?"

"_I could ask _ ** _you_ ** _ the same thing. _ Have you lost your sense of honor that you'd attack us during a festival?!"

With a blinding light, Ryoma and Xander found themselves in an unfamiliar land. It was in a high hill, on a plateau with carvings all along the stone ground. The only thing to stick out otherwise on the plateau was an obelisk with a heavily detailed carving of a tree. While initially they turned their attention on each other, nerves bristled and tempers flared, they only barely took pause to notice they were not only far removed from their world, but that they weren't alone. 

There was a young man with a weapon neither of them recognized. He was dressed in worn, near-tattered clothes that had seen far better days and were used well past the point they were expected to last. He was quiet, but his fear of both of them remained clear. Unfortunately, even as the two calmed down enough to catch on, it was too late, and he turned away to flee from them.

"Wait a moment!" "Wait, come back!"

The two tried to chase him down, but it only frightened him more. Try as they might, any attempt on their part to prove they wouldn't hurt him had only scared him off more and made him run faster. 

* * *

Ryoma was slow, but he tried to force himself awake, especially when he was greeted with sunlight pouring through the windows. At first, he nearly lapsed into his typical habits of forcing himself to gather his bearings and rush ahead to face the duties of the day, but in recalling (and in some regards, feeling) reminders of what he did all night, he just as quickly reminded himself he was allowed some level of laziness this time.

He gently separated himself from Kiran. In keeping him still mostly hidden among blankets, he snuck out and retrieved fresh clothes in their hidden closets to hastily dress himself properly while bringing the other two sets for either of his fiancés. Prepared with the task of helping Kiran get dressed while he was still asleep, he settled the folded clothes beside him while moving to leave the other set in front of Marx.

Except as he bent down to leave the clothes beside him, he looked up and froze just as he got a good look of Marx.

It was likely that Marx tossed and turned in his sleep. Their yukatas didn't entirely cover up their necks in the first place, but in Marx's case, it slipped low enough to expose his shoulders, one moreso than the other. 

It was a thought he had too little too late that it was highly ill-timed of them to mark one another with bruises all along their necks not long before the three of them would go on to perform in public. A small part of Ryoma wondered even before then of why nobody commented on their bruises, to a point their lack of comment made it easier to forget about them himself. 

However, seeing Marx's shoulders now, he had his answer. Instead of red and teal bruises, now Marx had highly detailed tattoos that spread all over the entire area of his skin between his neck and his shoulders. The 'ink' of one was still the same vivid shade of red for one and a faded teal for the other. Ryoma was bold enough to reach out and trace his fingers along the mark he left, noticing the kitsune face looming along his collarbone, the feathered wings fanned out along his shoulder, the elongated body that coiled around and along the curved edge of his neck, and the long trail of hair that followed the body's path. He realized the mark took on a pattern that illustrated his dragon form. The other mark looked just as detailed and spread out all along Marx's other shoulder, but Marx obscured it from view in resting on that side.

"Mn… Ryoma, what are you…?"

But not for long. With Ryoma's touch, Marx eventually stirred awake. As much as Ryoma withdrew his hand, Marx was more confused than irritated, having not quite caught on to the change of their marks at first as he turned and stared up to the blur looming over him. As much as he struggled to wake up in full, his vision eventually cleared and his focus strengthened, but he couldn’t fully turn away in time to yawn.

“Slept well?” After all, Ryoma recalled how easily Marx crashed early into the night. While he watched Marx smile and nearly come up with his own retort, his eyes drifted lower down along Ryoma’s neck just in time to notice his own tattoos, especially this up close.

“Ryoma, when did you get those?” Suddenly finding himself far more awake and alert than he was a moment ago, he sat straight up and returned the favor of feeling along Ryoma’s own markings, especially the violet mark he left prior. Recognizing the bat-like wings and cat-faced dragon circling around Ryoma’s neck, it didn’t take long for him to recognize the mark was based on his dragon form, like how Ryoma’s mirrored his own. As the two scrambled over to Kiran and lifted him up, the still-sleeping summoner not only also had dragon tattoos of his own, but both of them matched to the transformed marks they left on each other.

“So this is…” With Kiran, it gave both of them an immediate, clear view to compare with, rather than to rush to find a mirror or to head out to bathe. It helped them appreciate the details to the markings more, particularly their own. However...

“...So if this is us, then what is this?”

The marks Kiran left on either of them were just as detailed. With either of them confirming either of Kiran’s marks matched their own, they used each other as references of the mark to look over. There was also a feline-headed dragon who was just as long as Ryoma, and just as feathery in its wings, except there was another pair of smaller wings lower down its body. The immediate theory was that Kiran was turned into a dragon after all, but what confused both of them were the memories of how the two rapidly transformed at the time Loki cursed them. What concerned them even more were thoughts wondering why he didn’t show any sign of transforming up to now. 

“Did you see anything abnormal last night, Ryoma?”

“I uh… wasn’t exactly looking…” Between it being mostly dark at the time, and Ryoma’s thoughts being on… other things… he didn’t see anything obvious, but he was too busy to be sure of anything subtler he could’ve seen either… or felt… or might’ve sullied otherwise… 

"How unfortunate… Should we check over him then?"

"Perhaps, but not just yet. If he wakes up in the middle of it, we might frighten him. We can look him over when we bathe."

"Hmn…" Not that Marx opposed the idea, but as Ryoma continued to hold Kiran in place, the summoner was still ever the stubborn one and remained fast asleep all throughout. No amount of prodding or rubbing changed that.

"Speaking of which, we should probably wake him up now, anyways." 

Marx nodded in agreement and watched Ryoma move while adjusting his hold on Kiran. No matter the effort leading up to Ryoma cradling and cuddling Kiran with the blanket, Kiran still didn't wake up, and he merely slumped against Ryoma's chest. At first, there was a mix of worry and concern between them of why their fiancé remained unconscious no matter what, but while Ryoma's anxieties slowly grew as his attempts to rub Kiran's shoulder did seemingly nothing, Marx was much calmer of seeing signs Kiran still breathed easily and wasn't in distress or danger. 

"Kiiiiiraaaan… Come now, it's morning. Please get up."

But where Kiran still seemed asleep, Marx perked when he recognized Kiran's first slip-up. The corner of Kiran's mouth twitched and he very subtly leaned more against Ryoma’s chest.

“Goodness.. And he’s _ still _ asleep?” His tone turned teasing. He looked between Ryoma and then back to Kiran, and while Ryoma was on the verge of growing worried, the playful tone Marx held had immediately put him at ease. “Perhaps you should just let him sleep after all. From the looks of it, you may have pushed him far too hard last night.”

Where Marx smirked to Ryoma, slowly but surely, Ryoma smirked back and played along.

"_ Hah! _ Nonsense! Lately, Kiran had been growing far more stronger and resilient than ever before!"

Kiran remained quiet, but he was, in fact, truly awake now, even when he was asleep through much of their earlier banter. It took a moment to realize what was going on now wasn't a dream compared to what he saw before of when the three of them first met. Was it just the mood from Hoshido's festival making him more nostalgic now? At least it brought him some bit of joy that not only did Marx continue to remain open to the idea of wearing different costumes over time, but it made him happier how far he and Ryoma came in getting along so well.

Even then, he could easily feel how playful their banter became, even if it flustered him how this time, it was over him. He felt Ryouma rub even more circles around the back of his shoulder with a slight nudge, but tried to ignore his attempt to wake him more in favor of catching more of their banter. 

"Oh? What gave you that idea?"

"Do you not believe in him?"

"Of course I have faith in him. That being said, was it really fair to spring an endurance test like that on him all night just to prove it?"

He could tell Marx was joking with the accusation. Especially when it was he who gave his blessings of sort to do it in the first place. Now there were two hands trying to nudge him awake, but Kiran resisted it.

"Hmm~ You make it sound harsher than it was."

"Yes, because _ certainly, _ the king of Hoshido is known to be frail and with a feather touch, yes?" 

"Hmph~ Maybe. Perhaps. But is it that you think I'm too harsh, or that you _ do _ doubt him after all?"

"Of course not. What gave you that idea?"

"I would think you'd know I'm well aware of where both your limits lie. Despite how he may look, you should _ also _ know of his... _ hidden talents _..."

Even when Kiran was stubbornly trying to still remain 'asleep', he could hear Ryoma's voice get lower and closer to his ear.

"Oh?"

"Oh yes. Like how _ limber _ he was last night..."

Nope. Not waking up to that.

"One could say despite his strength, he has such a _ sensitive touch _..."

Even still, Kiran remained stubborn of pretending to sleep, but he could feel a familiar tingling run down his spine when Ryoma was close enough to feel his breath on his skin, and could hear how low he brought his voice to a husky whisper.

"And he's also quite... _ strong-willed. _ A cute, brave, strong summoner who is not fooling either of us right now to pretend to be asleep."

Finally relenting, Kiran cracked a smile before he could help himself. With an amused "Aha!" coming from Marx, he was squeezed into a closer embrace by Ryoma and nuzzled all along his cheek and neck. At last, Kiran opened his eyes, and just in time to catch Marx meeting up to nuzzle his other cheek in tune with Ryoma. 

"Haa~! No fair! How did you know?!" Kiran was playful of his protests, but it still flustered him of how easy it was to read him, it seemed. Getting the result they wanted, they sought their revenge in smothering Kiran between them and toying with him a little.

“Heh. I meant what I said.” Ryoma leaned lower and kissed Kiran, slipping back to his all too familiar playful attitude once more. “Besides, we should wash up. Surely, you’d come with us, hmm? You wouldn’t leave us all by ourselves, would you…?”

He tried to sound like it was heartbreaking for Kiran to consider leaving the two be. Or it _ would _, if his 'sad' tone wasn't painfully forced to a point of being playful and teasing. Regardless of it being more than clear Ryoma was simply toying with Kiran's heartstrings to guilt him to join them, Kiran was just as playful but 'guilty' right back.

"Noooo... Of course not..." He gave up his resistance, much as his resistance was just to toy with them a little right back. 

“Then it’s settled.” Marx moved away just enough to retrieve the fresh set of clothes Ryoma left behind. “Let’s get ready then.” 

“Ok! Oh but… What’s with all those tattoos on your necks?”

“Ah, we’ll erm… we’ll get to that on the way to the bath house, Kiran.”

It didn’t take much to convince Kiran to dress up just enough to be presentable like they were. It thankfully also didn’t take much for Kiran to be led by the nose just where Ryoma and Marx wanted him. More, be it because Kiran was still half-asleep in some ways, and was usually pretty calm and quick to accept oddities like this in general, they both relaxed at how little Kiran took issue of the idea the marks transformed as they had, even if they were wrapped along the sides of his neck as well. They did genuinely need to take a trip down to the onsen anyways, but it was the perfect excuse for either of them to further check on Kiran with the suspicions the tattoos inspired of being a dragon. The three of them dressed down, washed off, and when they relaxed in the heated bath, they had the whole bath house to themselves.

Unfortunately, other than the one change they were both already well aware of, there was nothing else about Kiran that stood out. Even with Kiran cooperating in turning and posing every which way, Ryoma didn't miss sight of anything off last night after all. By then, even Kiran was flustered, but also lacked answers as to why Loki was so quick to transform Ryoma and Marx in full, but not him.

"Maybe because both of you are the Dawn and Dusk Dragons? Or erm, related to them at least. That's what she wanted, right? Meanwhile I'm not really anything special."

"That's a fair point, I suppose, but… hmm…" But it also left Marx even more frustrated at the inconsistencies he wasn't sure anymore if they were truly half-baked plans or simply Loki being _ Loki _. 

"Hm… I guess for now, there isn't much we can do except wait and see when it triggers." After all, Ryoma didn't relish the idea of forcing Kiran to transform at risk of hurting him, particularly if Loki tried to trick them into doing exactly that instead. "If you feel anything unusual, you'd tell us anyways, right Kiran?"

"Yeah! Right. Of course…" Although he had his own mixed feelings as well. Was this good? Was it bad? It didn't help that with both Ryoma and Marx looking just as equally worried as they were intrigued, he couldn't tell which of those two feelings were stronger in their thoughts right then or what to do of it.

So for now, the three of them left it alone. They tried to salvage the morning by relaxing while they still had a moment of peace to themselves. After the three settled down to eat, they savored the lingering remains of the festival's mood before they dressed up much more properly to face their routines once again of training, battling and strategizing.

* * *

As Marx and Kiran went their own ways, Ryoma was left managing what he needed to before he would leave Hoshido again to return to Askr. To Hinoka's credit, she did wonderfully for what she could in the siblings splitting duties once Ryoma made the decision that the Order of Heroes needed his direct aid, but he didn't want to neglect his duties as king altogether either no matter how fine a queen she made. Besides, it was even more fortunate in a time like this that Hoshido still basked in the after-party glow with focus to dismantle what traces remained of the festival or push close-out sales otherwise, and doubly so that Hoshido, Nohr and Askr remained at peace.

As patiently as Ryoma went through the motions to either fill out reports or read through the reports made by others, he was just as calm to see general notes from Kagero and Saizo from observations Saizo made with tactics in mind, to notes about villages and the general well-being of such Kagero noted, but nothing rousing either of their suspicions or alarm otherwise.

"Ah, my apologies for interrupting, Lord Ryoma, but if I may have a moment of your time…"

He looked up. He already recognized Alfonse by his voice, but moreso his usual act of overdoing it in his formalities with a low, respectful bow. 

"Ha… I appreciate it, Prince Alfonse, but be it in Askr or Hoshido otherwise, there is no need for that. I consider us equals." Yet no matter how many times he said this, he knew this wouldn't be the last. Ryoma also became slightly more teasing of it anymore in knowing such all too well. 

"Come in. Have a seat." He was also glad Alfonse caught him at just the right time after he already parted the paper sea flowing all over his desk. It helped him focus on Alfonse better with everything organized in stacks now, rather than risk interrupting each other for every stray document that decided to slip off or roll away otherwise. 

It was even more convenient when Alfonse followed his suggestion and brought to his attention he had his own papers rolled up to share. Perhaps not _ entirely _ ignoring Ryoma's words after all of his invitation to be more casual, he already began spreading out what Ryoma quickly realized was a map.

"So, I take it you found something interesting in your scouting missions?"

"Indeed! Even though I haven't felt as if I strayed nearly as far from the heart of Askr, there was already so much to be found that I barely fully realized. Even for what I knew from reports and books, it never ceases to amaze me how different it all feels to be just within sight of such vastly different kingdoms."

Ryoma brightened. Already, he could see how cheerful Alfonse was to reminisce over what he saw with Saizo and Kagero, among other ninjas. With how stone-faced and strict Alfonse was, not just to others, but especially in reining himself, it was refreshing to see him like this, and reminded him of how Corrin and Kamui were when they returned to Hoshido… before finding out their awe and wonder was due to how the two spent much of their childhood barely knowing anything outside of their rooms beyond what they could immediately see out their windows.

"Oh, ah- *ahem* right…"

Which left Ryoma somewhat deflated when, with a moment of self-realization, Alfonse quickly reined himself in once again in his embarrassment of his earlier mood. With little ability to change this if Alfonse didn't allow it, Ryoma shifted focus on the map spread out on his desk. He could immediately see where Askr was, and notes about a gate that separated its realm from another realm, but his interest perked to see the start of a map to what was seemingly on the other side of the gate.

"Ah… But, then again, I suppose it's less that there's so much to see just outside Askr's borders and more that there are so many gates leading to kingdoms we've yet to explore… Thanks to the Hoshidan troops you loaned to me, Saizo and Kagero helped to protect me while investigating this gate in particular. I've heard about Nifl and Muspell before in our records, but… to think, the kingdom of ice and kingdom of fire were both right through that gate… Nifl was truly a sight to behold even from a distance. And I can't imagine what Muspell...Ah! Oh, *ahem* nevermind."

There he goes again. Ryoma perked in seeing him quickly lost in amazement of what he saw, but just as quickly to dismiss his thoughts again. A part of him was wondering more about King Gustav and what he must be like in light of how Alfonse was so quick to hide sides like this of himself...

"Alfonse… There is no shame on how you feel, especially not between friends." At least Ryoma also took comfort too of how far Alfonse came in trusting heroes like him, moreso now that this Hoshido and Nohr were practically neighbors to Askr. He came a long way from the withdrawn, bitter prince who was still hurt and burned from heroes abandoning him and Askr as a whole at an instant. "If Nifl has left such a strong impression on you, I'm quite tempted to see such a kingdom for myself as well. But, regardless, you need not keep hiding your feelings."

"Ah… I suppose you're right. Thank you." But then again while Alfonse tried to make a stronger effort to relax _ this _ time, it remained to be seen how long he would heed it. This was unfortunately not something that was easy for him to change. "That being said, may I continue to borrow your ninjas? I feel as if I've only scratched the surface of what I found, and your units were an incredible help." Particularly when Gustav likely wouldn't have been nearly so generous to redistribute his own units to investigate 'nothing', as Ryoma was reading between the lines.

"Borrow them for as long as you like, Alfonse. I insist." Besides, between Marx's units, the remaining ninjas, and the troops serving under his siblings, Ryoma had more flexibility even with what resources he gave to Alfonse, and saw the benefits of Alfonse gathering more info of these two new kingdoms. Besides, it brought peace of mind to him, and no doubt Kiran as well, to guard Alfonse with his retainers over just anyone.

"You're… Thank you, Ryoma. I won't disappoint you."

And it was already worth it anyways to see Alfonse's spirits lift, even a little. 

"Ah, yes. I wanted to share this with you as well. Kagero allowed me to keep it, but she took a moment to paint what we saw of Nifl's castle. It seemed to leave quite the interesting impact on her."

Indeed. While Ryoma did want to see Nifl and Muspell in their full glory at some point, Kagero, ever the dutiful retainer who never fails to impress, did a rather detailed piece on Nifl to try to capture the kingdom of ice in all its glory within the canvas she had.

Granted, it also looked like Nifl was consumed in black and grey hellfire that cast a haunting tone that probably wasn't actually true to Nifl, but it at least served to confirm to Ryoma that it was indeed Kagero's handiwork.

Eventually, Alfonse and Ryoma parted ways as Alfonse was set to return to Askr through their personal gate. Yet again, Ryoma was left alone with his work, but wrapped up what remained in short order and with relative ease. 

He leaned against the back of the chair, not just to take a moment to recollect himself, but to also plan his next move and bring things back into perspective. He saved Hinoka a lot of effort now, but he mused over more pleasant things, especially now that he was back in Hoshido.

He had debated for some time to refine his skills on mounted combat again, particularly debating if it was worth the trouble or not to bring a kinshi he trained with in the past, but had to abandon to the care of the stables when Garon became too much of a threat to spare training time. 

He also reminded himself that as clumsy as his proposal was, he was engaged nonetheless, and now they had to plan a wedding, if not two, no thanks to his and Marx's political obligations forcing their hands to be public and grand in both their nations. Then again, he also knew _ that _ was something he had to discuss with Marx and Kiran, rather than entirely plan by himself. Besides, a pair of Hoshidan style and Nohrian style weddings were decently easy to think up between him and Marx, but he didn't have much clue in regards to how people marry in Kiran's world, and he was even more curious to learn more of it from Kiran.

As his attention drifted the more he overwhelmed himself, he tried to focus on much smaller plans to rein himself back into action. He eyed the folded comforters and sheets he used for years as he grew up sleeping in his room in Shirasagi, only to go unused, gathering dust in his closet up until last night when they all slept here overnight after the festival.

Come to think of it, their home in Askr could probably do with far more comforters and such, and it wouldn't go to waste to take them. He got up from his chair with a new plan.

* * *

"...Where…? Ryoma…" 

"...What? Marx, surely you know I could easily ask you the same question. Is it really _ that _ unreasonable? Especially with what you have behind your back!"

"I suppose that's fair, but… Ah… I don't know. Would this be too excessive?" 

"Who else would care? It's our room."

"Well, there's Kiran… Hm… Well, then again, Kiran might not mind either. Oh, fine then…"

As it turned out, Ryoma wasn't the only one with redecorating plans in mind.

He made good with the bigger plans in at least setting things in motion. In resolving his plans to train more, he made arrangements for his kinshi, trained specialists, and all the supplies necessary to be transferred en-route to Askr's stables. He also at least set the foundation work for a Hoshidan wedding, even when the plans were still young and flexible of the specifics still left to discuss. He also practically looted his entire room with bedding material he shoved into his convoy for his more immediate plans to redecorate their home in Askr with.

As he returned, fresh-faced and still overly heated from a bath, he found Marx already back home, his own skin radiating steam and his own convoy left wide open likewise with evidence of his own redecorating plans.

In fact, there were quite a few things the two eerily lined up on in their plans. At the stables, there was a white horse settled beside Marx's black one that took Ryoma a moment to recognize it was the same horse Marx rode on when Kiran summoned them while he still was dressed for his failed attempt to celebrate the Spring Festival with Corrin, Kamui and Camilla. There were also a pile of documents, a few of which he could immediately see were highly formal and decorated, guessing he also went ahead in planning a Nohrian wedding.

And then there were the pillows, sheets, blankets, and who knows what else both of them brought home. Even their youngest sisters seemed to share similar ideas, because where Ryoma had some plushies hidden under a sea of assorted bedding material that Sakura offered, and he softened at the thought of taking them to Askr, Ryoma could barely see deep within Marx's convoy that Elise clearly gave Marx similar soft, cute toys to take with him as well. While he had a plush doll modeled after his dog, A-Yuan, somewhere in his haphazardly stuffed convoy, he could see Marx also had a plush based on his cat, Berlioz, sitting at the very top of his own pile.

What started off as just a thought of how to make their large bed cozier and softer became an idea that gave almost the entire room a complete makeover. First, there was adding more pillows and layers of sheets and blankets. Then, there were things moved around the bed that started with rearranging the pillows and ended with a delicate, yet chaotic mix of Hoshidan and Nohrian comforters and piles. Hours passed before either of them realized, and suddenly, the couches that used to line the walls off to the side somehow were now fused along the edges of the bed to increase the size of what quickly transformed into a giant, soft, cozy nest.

Kiran slowly blinked. He didn’t know what to really expect to walk into when he quietly opened the door, but certainly didn’t expect not only for their entire Askran home to change, but for Ryoma and Marx to _ still _ fuss over the weirdest details. Where Ryoma and Marx had long since cooled off by then, he was still completely flushed, but perhaps the steam from the bath wasn’t the only thing heating his cheeks up in particular right then.

“Hmm… But these two have the Nohrian and Hoshidan emblems on them, right? Wouldn’t it make them stand out more putting them together over here among the plainer pillows?”

“So we’re spreading them out over organizing them? Hmm… I do see your point… I wonder if we should get a pillow between them with the Askran emblem as well, but where to-”

Unfortunately for Kiran, he didn’t catch the door in time before it closed just a little too roughly. The loud sound made both of them jump a little and immediately turn and stare his way, freezing when they both realized Kiran was there. He was just as nervous to look away from the door and look back to them likewise.

“Ah, Kiran, you…” “Erm… welcome back, Kiran…”

“We were just…” “We can explain…”

“Erm…” “Uh…”

“...I could make that pillow, maybe… If I had more tools and material, I mean…” 

Not exactly the best response when both Ryoma and Marx clumsily tried and failed to explain the sudden redecorating, but he felt hopeful at how quickly the two perked at the offer. From their looks of surprise, Kiran couldn’t help but wonder if they expected him to react differently to the sight of it all. 

“Ah, so you heard that… You sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, Kiran?” Not that Marx doubted in Kiran’s skills in needlework when he saw how much Kiran had to rely on it before Oboro gave him new clothes, but he already felt embarrassed putting far too much thought on such a silly little thing. And for that matter, he felt some slight guilt of turning their bed into such a messy pile despite hours ago putting such heavy thought and attention to detail to organize such a ‘mess’ in the first place with Ryoma. From the way Ryoma visibly hesitated, and the way he took timid glances between their nest and back to Kiran, he guessed Ryoma was having the same doubts.

“Not at all! It’s been a while since I had something to sew on that wasn’t just mending clothes, and pillows are easy enough to make. As long as I don’t have to embroid the Askran insignia on, I can get it done easily.”

However, that doubt shrank a little when Kiran clearly didn’t mind humoring their request, and in fact, looked happier to try it. As much as Kiran calmed both of them over the thought of a pillow, the more pressing thought were concerns of what he’d think over their bed. They both watched Kiran cautiously when the summoner approached the edge of the nest, unsure of what to make of his expression as he stared at their arrangements inside and blinked at their foundation outside.

“So uh… You two were pretty busy…”

Did he mean that in a good way? It left both of them too anxious to tell. Consequently, with how calm and level-headed both Marx and Ryoma usually were, to see the two have so much difficulty visibly hiding their anxieties - especially over something they all thought was a fairly small matter - only served to make Kiran just as anxious when he couldn’t tell what he did wrong to unnerve the two so much.

“Would you rather we move everything back, Kiran…?” What were they thinking? And for that matter, what compelled them to make their bed turn into _ this _ in the first place?! For some reason, in all those hours they’ve spent fussing and building, only _ now _ did it finally click to both kings how unusual they arranged their room. It felt easy a moment ago with just how accepting one was to the other of the idea, and how quickly they aided one another in the building and reorganizing. So much so, that it didn’t occur to them until far too late, and well into the night, that their impulses left their whole room a mess now. 

“Wait, I didn’t mean…” It caught Kiran off guard how quickly the two looked and acted so defeated. It disarmed him at how sad and weak Ryoma’s voice turned to ask. He could clearly tell this nest meant the world to them, but why were they so quick to give up on it? Even Marx sighed and his sight dipped lower to all the pillows they organized, hesitating before moving and reaching over to grab one of the pillows.

“...Give us about an hour then, Kiran…”

“Wait!”

And just as quickly, Kiran rushed closer and pressed both his hands against the pillow, firmly locking it in place no matter the strength in Marx’s grip. Yet again, he commanded both their attentions in the act. 

“Will you both stop putting words in my mouth?! E-especially when I didn’t even say much of anything yet!” He hated it. He hated having to go against them, especially for something like this. But even if he didn’t fully understand what was running in either of their heads, he also didn’t want to hurt them if he could help it. They thankfully both took pause to hear him out, but they both also had some level of hesitance, as if dreading what Kiran would say, to some extent. Marx relented in giving up his grip on the pillow, but Kiran remained stubborn, particularly when Marx’s focus drifted enough not to look directly at him. Ryoma, by contrast, watched him carefully, but his eyes looked duller than a moment ago, and he seemed to try to hide his feelings behind a stoic look.

“It’s unique, but I don’t hate it.” He tried to navigate through the one narrow hole in the otherwise fortified wall of the nest, climbing into the nest to join the two, especially once Marx gave up trying to move the pillow he earlier protected. He moved along the sheets of the bed, but could feel the heavy cushioning directly underneath the bedsheets as he moved. “And it clearly means a lot to the two of you, and you both worked really hard on it. I don’t want to take that away from either of you.”

Just as the two weren’t sure what came over them to build the nest, they were both equally baffled of the feelings that brewed, not just of Kiran’s words, but his actions as well. Ever since Kiran tried to infiltrate their nest, they watched every move he made. The way their eyes burned him with such vigilant stares nearly scared Kiran into wanting to crawl backwards and out of the nest, as if thinking he only messed up more than helped the situation. Yet in pressing on, their looks seemed to heavily soften, moreso with Kiran’s pleading stare in return. 

“You really don’t mind if we keep our bed like this, Kiran? Particularly for good…?” Marx still hesitated in his voice, but he moved closer just as Kiran settled in a spot just beside where Ryoma was, and where Marx previously lingered. Humoring them for a night was one thing, but Marx didn’t quite trust that he wouldn’t mind this if it became a recurring thing for them.

“Why not?” As usual, Kiran’s reaction was just as underwhelming as ever, and he simply shrugged while leaning against the cushioned walls, knowing that particular point had their existing bed-frame for even more support. “Unless the two of you want us to move out completely, whenever that happens, I don’t see why we can’t keep the bed like this as it is. Especially if the two of you can make it all work out.”

There it was again. He was even more aware of the burning stares now that Ryoma and Marx were to either side of him. However, this time he noticed they both looked more hopeful in their staring, even if both of them towered and loomed over him on either side.

“Besides, it feels _ really _ soft here. It’s cozier than before. I can’t really complain. I like it, even.”

He looked up as he sank lower against the cushions of the nest. He watched the way both of them slowly blinked down at him in yet again seeing their surprise and hesitance. They glanced to one another, then back down to him.

And then at an instant, all their hesitation melted away under far warmer smiles. 

Also at an instant, Ryoma and Marx lowered themselves and curled up beside either side of him, one of them managing to grab a thick blanket to unfurl and cover over them in their nest. They both started slow and gentle in cuddling up beside him and nuzzling him, but the affection grew rougher, stronger, and to Kiran’s surprise, he heard and felt either of them purr.

“H-hey~! What’s gotten into you two now?”

At first, all they did was laugh. Ryoma’s voice proved stronger over Marx in such, but all the same, they seemed far happier right then, like a weight was lifted all of a sudden. Not that Kiran pressed too much for a proper response, but he was still stunned at the ways their mood heavily hinged on what he thought of the nest. Between their nuzzling, the heavy hum-like purrs, and the gentle pecks to either of his cheeks, he was relieved to brighten their moods up again no matter how much whiplash he got from just that night alone.

“What gave you two the idea to make this, anyways? I kinda like the added space, it’ll be really useful if either of you transformed in bed again.” As much as he still spoke highly of the nest both to cheer them up more and from genuine pride, he still dared to ask what prompted all this in the first place.

“Actually… I’m not entirely sure…” 

Kiran blinked at Ryoma. Unfortunately, no amount of staring made him any less sheepish to admit, and he looked over and past Kiran to see if Marx had any better explanation. Kiran shifted to look to Marx likewise.

“It… I must admit too, it all came naturally. Beyond that… I’m not sure why either…”

“Huh… So all of this was just because then… Not that there’s anything bad about it, but…” For something that was born from little else than impulse, he was intimidated, yet also impressed of how strongly the two felt of it. “Maybe it’s a manakete thing?”

“Doubtful. Corrin and Kamui never did this before.” Be it in their prison-like room in Nohr, or the treehouse they would constantly barge in on them in for meetings, Marx could clearly recall a neat, normal bed and couch. With what their bed transformed into, he and his siblings would’ve definitely noticed otherwise.

And yet, Ryoma hesitated.

“...*Ahem*...”

“...Ryoma?”

“...Marx, what is that look for?”

_ “Ryooomaaa?” _

"I-I thought they were just trying to figure out how to sleep on kotatsus, that’s all!”

“Getting used-?! What did they even do?!”

“Well, they took basically every spare pillow they could find and pretty much covered the whole floor in it, trying to build a hole. I thought they were trying to mimic the shape of a Nohrian bed at the time and didn’t think about it.”

As flustered as Marx was, and as much as Ryoma grinned fairly stupidly, to Marx’s ire, Kiran stared up to the two as they towered over him in their banter, but also took a moment to take in their handiwork more, especially the overall shape and feel of it.

“So it probably _ is _ a dragon thing, then. Come to think of it, this feels very nest-like, too.” 

“Hmn?”

“But it…” Except where Ryoma was initially quick to protest, they both took in their handiwork again. The wall, the hole they dug, their recent transformations…

“...Fair point. It’s a nest.” Ryoma slumped against the cushioned wall. With memories of their little ‘pillow hole’ the dragon twins made, he did see enough similarities to realize he probably intruded on another nest long ago, to which he sighed heavily as it dawned on him far too late.

With a groan, Marx also slumped against the same cushioned barrier as Ryoma and Kiran, but opted to lay on his side, rather than on his back like the other two.

“Of all the things to miss…”

“How many dragons have you lived with before coming into Askr, Marx?”

“...Touché…”

“Please you two. It’s late, and we really should be going to bed now.”

Flustered as Marx was, Kiran had a point. The summoner crawled out of bed just enough to reach over to the lantern, open its door, and blow out the candle lit inside before crawling back and practically faceplanting into the open arms of either of his fiancés under the sheets, settling in for the night.

“...But how on earth did you just shrug off a dragon nest like that?”

As much as Ryoma groaned, Kiran spared him by answering for him.

“Did none of you ever build a pillow fort before?”

“Haha, not in a very long time, but... I suppose that’s fair…”

“Well, this almost counts.” Kiran slumped back against the pillows in trying to get cozy again. “And Garon isn’t here to tear it down.”

“Mmn… Indeed.” To Marx’s relief. No doubt Garon wouldn’t hesitate, but if it pained them at the thought Kiran wouldn’t approve, he didn’t know how much worse it would’ve been if someone dismantled their nest completely.

Still, he felt Kiran hug him to a point of pulling him closer, moreso when Ryoma held Kiran beside him likewise. It was their own ways of quietly telling him to rest, and despite his stalling, they eventually fell asleep once more.

* * *

“_ Kiran! No!” _

Before Alfonse realized, Kiran shoved him away just as the sliding doors were slammed shut, cutting him off from Kiran. While he initially tried to tear through what he thought were paper sliding doors, the decorative layer tore with ease just enough to reveal a far hardier surface that wouldn’t be as easy to tear down.

“I’m surprised you made it this far.”

Kiran’s Ryoma realized that he had to stand out from the Ryoma of this world. Where Alfonse met up with a Ryoma who lacked his head gear and wore his hair up in a ponytail, Kiran was unfortunately stuck with the other Ryoma who armed himself against him. The Ryoma of this Hoshido didn’t think twice that Kiran didn’t look armed, and thought even less of his overall shabby clothes. All he cared for was the powerful thought that he must kill him.

“I will stop you here at the cost of my own life, if necessary. I challenge you to single combat!”

It was as the contract demanded. There was no other thought that mattered no matter how much Alfonse begged and pleaded over the wall for Kiran’s sake.

“How will you fare against the High Prince of Hoshido? Any last words?!”

"_Please! Don’t do this! KIRAN!” _

"_Alfonse! Move!”_

He couldn’t allow this. He wouldn’t stand for any version of him to kill Kiran. As Alfonse moved away, Ryoma charged up and rammed against the wall, piercing through a decent depth with Raijinto. His nerves flared and the blade’s electric currents pulsed as he tried all he could to will himself to break the wall, but grew stressed and faltered in his desperation when he heard audible signs his other self had already managed to hit Kiran.

“Ryoma! Stand still!” 

Where Ryoma hesitated and held the instinctive urge to turn around to look, he held back just enough to witness his brightly-colored rival charge up with a lance he stabbed into the wall Ryoma weakened. Both focused on their weapons, pulsing electric and dark power as they tried to push forward, until the wall finally yielded under their force, allowing Ryoma to rush in and duel his double as Xander focused on Kiran. The summoner’s clothes were almost completely shredded to pieces. He was covered in a pile of torn bits of tattered cloth and blood. Nothing Xander said could get through to him, and the fight between the Ryomas became a blur to him.

He hated it here. He thought he could escape to a new world and flee from all the hatred and pain he lived through. Instead, he was thrown into a world where everything was so much worse. Is there really no escape from this?

"Kiran, are you alright?" By then, his Ryoma triumphed over the other, ridding the other of his contract. Despite how Kiran could clearly see his lack of mask and his hair tied up, his breathing grew rougher and audible, to a point Ryoma grew concerned he mistook him for the Ryoma who attacked him anyways. Xander tensed in seeing otherwise.

"Kiran, it's ok, you're safe now. I'm-"

_ "Get away from me!" _

He swatted Ryoma's outstretched hand away. He tried to back away more, but he was already nearly backed into a corner as it was. Of course, Kiran wasn't strong enough to actually hurt him, and given Ryoma's gauntlet, he actually hurt himself moreso in the attack, but it wasn't Kiran's strength that left Ryoma's hand stinging.

It was the first time he and Xander heard Kiran speak to them.

"Kiran, _ please- _"

There was no escape. That's all that rang in his head no matter what Ryoma said or did. Xander watched quietly as Ryoma tried and failed to reach out to Kiran, seeing a strong resemblance to how scared, withdrawn and defensive Corrin and especially Kamui were whenever they turned against him not long after Garon bullied and attacked them when he wasn't around to intervene.

His eyes darkened at the realization, moreso when, in spite of his wounds, Kiran was desperate enough to will himself to get up and run, despite the painfully clear evidence trailing him that he wasn't in a good enough condition to do this.

_ "Kiran! Stop this! Please, let Sakura heal you! _ ** _Kiran!_ ** _ " _

"Kiran, wait!"

It didn't matter who called him between Ryoma or any of the Askrans. He still ran out of the room to try to distance himself. Xander couldn't leave it be, but he tried to take a much different approach compared to Ryoma. Like with Corrin and Kamui, he tried to be calm and lower his voice to gentler tones. It surprised even Ryoma to see this side to the Nohrian king, but seeing Kiran come out of hiding with what little strength he had left, he tried to mirror his example of lowering himself and trying to speak in gentler tones, luring the tattered and withered summoner out just as he would've fainted. With the night still so young, there was no telling what kind of creatures could've found him if they hadn't reached him in time.

Even before, Ryoma's heart cracked. There was a dull look in the summoner's eyes. They looked liked he longed for death. The physical scars didn't compare.

"Perhaps there is more to be healed than just his body..." It was a familiar pain that struck a chord with Xander. Ryoma couldn't protest, feeling way out of an element Xander was solemn of knowing all too well. It was the first time any of them got a good look of what the summoner looked like under his coat, but only by virtue of how destroyed the coat was as to no longer hide him. Xander took great care to hold the summoner close and carry him in his arms, ignoring the long strands of black hair that loosely tucked under his arms or folded over them otherwise. He didn't even care how holding him like this smeared his clothes in his blood similarly.

Maybe there was more going on behind the scenes for the Nohrians than Ryoma realized. He followed Xander closely in his lingering reservations of the Nohrian prince, but it became harder by the day to see him as purely an enemy.

* * *

It took a while to find free time for themselves again. Not including the nights when the three collapsed together in their nest, the three were spread out so much in their duties that when they _ did _ cross paths during the day, it was fairly incidental, and only because their missions happened to line up. Even in the night, they were usually so burnt out that if two of them didn't get frisky and burn each other out for the third to stumble on, all three came at different points throughout the night with barely enough energy to crawl under the covers. A few times, they faceplanted outright, or Ryoma or Marx were in a more touchy mood against doing more beyond sleep no matter their energy. As Kiran noticed, their moods seemed to swing wildly on whether or not they were ok with Kiran touching their chests especially, sometimes begging him or each other for attention, while other times withdrawing as if they were hurt somehow.

He tried his best to keep up with them in those times.

"There you go, Kiran. Are you balanced?"

"I do feel pretty safe up here, yeah."

"Hm…"

But then there were times like these he felt more relaxed with them again. Where Ryoma went off to train on his own in getting his kinshi acquainted with Askr, Kiran was left training with Marx in horseback combat. He used to train in riding in front of Marx when both mounted Arion together, then did similar training in riding behind him. This time, however, he graduated to being given his own horse, but also had to learn to ride and fight at the same time after depending on Marx to manage half the work of mounted combat. In his heavy caution, Marx fussed once more and stood back just enough to see Kiran sitting perfectly straight on the saddle, finally relenting in mounting Arion with far more ease compared to Kiran with Mikau. 

Despite Ryoma having learned about the horse's return for quite some time, Ryoma tried to respect Marx's wishes to keep it a surprise. Kiran was even more stunned how not only was he gifted the horse outright, rather than just borrowing him for the sake of training, he found out Marx avoided calling the horse by name all this time because he didn't actually have much of a name beforehand. In resisting every urge to name him 'Epona' (especially when the horse was neither brown, nor female), he hastily chose the second name to come to mind, and it stuck. 

"We'll start slow. You remember what I showed you? Of how I gripped the reins? Let's refresh on the basics and go from there."

All day, Marx had been feeling more anxious than he allowed himself to show. Even if Kiran successfully missed that Marx felt unsettled of something, he still noticed how stone-faced and stern he looked no matter his demeanor or tone of voice, all of which Kiran recognized were signs of him masking his feelings. He didn't know what to expect, and for that matter Marx wouldn't have known enough to explain himself either, but it led to Kiran going along with spending time together in the form of more horse training when he initially would've wanted to just relax and cool down instead.

So he played along for Marx's sake. He showed Marx his initial tutoring wasn't in vain despite his initial clumsiness to mount Mikau at all. They started with a slow, gentle lap, then quickened the pace every succeeding lap, all while riding side by side. Eventually, Marx held enough trust in him to let Kiran continue to ride off without him glued to his hip the whole time.

And that trust was immediately tested when Kiran became far too bold, and Mikau ran far too fast onward toward what was far and well off the dirt road.

_ “Kiran!” _

_ “I’M FINE! EVERYTHING’S FINE!” _He also forgot how to make Mikau stop without launching him several feet forward, and he was also becoming more aware Mikau was running down a path he himself wasn’t sure of at this point, but surely Marx didn’t need to know that as long as he didn’t fall off, right?

_ “Then why are you shouting?!” _ Regardless, Marx didn’t buy everything was as fine as Kiran was making it, and already, he coaxed Arion to chase Mikau down. Even if Kiran _ was _ fine, such reckless riding was well past what he trusted Kiran with in regards to how long he actually trained, and he hesitated to risk Kiran’s safety to leave this alone.

_ “Kiran, don’t panic!” _

_ “I’M NOT PANICKING!” _

Unfortunately, Mikau proved way too stubborn. It left Marx even more frustrated the more signs he saw that Mikau might’ve been frightened by something. He continued to shout at Kiran with orders of how to coax Mikau to stop, and his heart was certainly in the right place, but his frantic orders, combined with Kiran’s growing stress of not messing up and either flinging himself forward or backward, it left the two riding off quite the distance away from their intended path by the time Mikau finally stopped. Marx similarly coaxed Arion to stop, but compared to Mikau, he showed his experience with how obedient Arion was to stop smoothly and immediately in the exact spot Marx meant him to.

Thankfully, Mikau didn’t get any other ideas, and he gave the two enough of a moment to catch their breath, moreso Kiran than Marx.

The look Marx shot to him was more than enough to get his point across of what he felt of it all, and while Kiran felt especially small and wanted to say something to make it up to him, both were quickly distracted when a bird slowly flew by with the flight pattern and speed of a butterfly.

A bird that they both realized, to their awe and confusion, was made of magic, and looked as if it harnessed the power of the waters.

“...What’s that?” As much as Marx tensed and was already looking around in half expecting a mage or so preparing to attack them, Kiran was much more optimistic when he proved the bird certainly wasn’t shy about flying toward Kiran and letting it perch in his hand.

Where Marx remained tense and armed himself at the slightest rustle, they saw even more birds fly out from hiding with the same gentle, slow, near-random flight patterns. Besides the water bird, they saw birds manifest from mist, birds that formed their shape from flames Kiran didn’t seem to think twice about also catching in his hand, and other birds who seemed entirely composed of sand.

“Haha~ They’re pretty friendly~”

“...Indeed…” 

Marx had many, _ many _ choice words, but he left almost all of them unsaid. It took time for him to be absolutely sure they didn’t walk straight into a magical ambush - however eccentric their attacker may - before slowly disarming himself in favor of not just staring in awe at the different varieties of elemental birds, but Marx’s high concerns of Kiran’s clear evidence of his lack of self preservation against the risks they could’ve posed.

Still, it was a discovery worth studying, particularly when Kiran and Marx found it surprisingly easy to lead the birds into either of their convoys. They gathered up all they could before riding back, albeit Kiran was under far heavier scrutiny this time by Marx no matter how much calmer Mikau was now after acting restless and almost playful the entire time they collected the birds.

* * *

“...What… who would waste all this time to…?” 

And who better to ask about magical creatures than someone who does magic?

Fortunately, their ride home went without further incident. It also didn’t take long to find Soren between knowing he took time off today and Ike leading them outright back to their own home. Immediately, Kiran perked at what appeared to be their own nest in their room as well, but more like a burrow than the open nest Ryoma and Marx constructed. Right then, Ranulf was there as well, but fully transformed, and his head rested just beside the opening of his burrow, sleeping peacefully and openly purring the whole time with a visible smile.

No matter the nest, Kiran and Marx held back asking about it just yet in favor of meeting Soren, who kept his own office area from being consumed by the burrow that took over their bed. In short order, Kiran showed one of every variety of the elemental birds that Marx helped lead out of the convoy and onto Soren’s desk. Where Soren was initially his usual stoic, indifferent self, his attention was immediately caught by the birds, captivated yet confused in being unable to tell if they were related to summon spirits, or were a needlessly excessive magic trick.

“I take it there is nothing like this in Tellius?” Not that there was anything like this in Nohr, Hoshido or Valla either, but he wondered if it was a normal occurrence even in Askr, let alone any of their own home worlds.

“Not exactly…” The mage was left even more curious of what the birds were supposed to even do. He could feel they were completely pure magic, yet despite their manifested form, or how they reacted to their room or Soren’s touch as if sharing their own free will, he couldn’t sense the birds had any actual life to them, nor any subtle signature or link pointing to another mage. “Where did you even find these?”

“Outside!”

“....Any specific place outside?”

“Well, my horse ran off deep into a forest, and while neither of us are sure why there were so many birds there, we gathered all the birds we could find. We were hoping you could-”

“Soren, your hand!”

Blinking, Soren looked away from Kiran and down to his hand at Ike’s alarm. Not only did Kiran and Marx also focus on Soren, but Ike’s voice frightened Ranulf enough to flinch awake. The cat was bleary-eyed and held a dull stare at Soren. Normally, he would’ve woken up at an instant to jump to the call of battle, if the situation truly called for such, but it helped ease him just as quickly as he woke up when Soren didn’t seem hurt, much as he slept through all the context of why there were suddenly blurry, glowing spirits all around the mage.

They watched as the water bird seemed to slip into Soren’s hand, easing and disappearing while leaving the skin to his hand with little else but an oddly soothing chill, like running his hand along winter air. As the bird disappeared, Soren didn’t look any different, much as he held his hand up in examining it with much scrutiny. When he realized there didn’t appear to be anything different about him physically, he tested his other theory of using his magic.

It was a short burst of wind. He formed green energy in his hands just enough to toy with his power a little to test it. Something about it now held a slight blue afterglow to it, and he could feel the familiar, near-soothing chill that he knew wasn’t there before in his power. 

“...Interesting.”

“Are you alright, Soren?” With Soren remaining so calm, if not curious, Ike relaxed a little more, even if he still couldn’t help but ask. Ranulf was a little quicker to trust Soren was safe, and with a soft huff, he lowered his head and closed his eyes again, occasionally twitching and turning his ears in their direction even if he no longer watched them.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. Although as for what else this does… hmm…” Even if he didn’t want to admit it, the look Soren had in studying his magic, and how the bird affected him now, all were painfully clear how he had so many thoughts ran through his mind of how to test this in full. “So you both truly don’t know anything specific otherwise of where you found these?”

“Unfortunately not. Kiran and I surveyed the entire area as we gathered the birds, but there was nothing particularly distinct in that part of the forest from the rest of the area or the entire route.”

“It’s also why we tried to gather every bird we could find, just in case we never see them again.” And besides, Kiran knew it would’ve probably been best to also ask Alfonse, Sharena or Anna as well, much as he wondered why none of them brought them up sooner if it would’ve been normal for Askr anyways.

“I see. I suppose I could do tests with them to get an idea of what these are for, but I’ll need more time with them.”

“Thanks, Soren… Ah, but, they also did one other thing Marx found out by accident.”

“Oh?”

Without a second thought, Kiran swatted both his hands together loudly and harshly in crushing the fire bird in his hands. The sharp sound combined with the sudden act snapped Ike and Marx back into focus and prompted both of them to straighten their postures, all while Ranulf jumped again in jolting himself awake just long enough to let out a soft, squeaky yawn in once again staring their way. The entire time, Soren didn’t so much as twitch.

“Kiran… You didn’t need to use so much force…” It was bad enough Marx allowed his anxieties to brew enough to let a stray elemental bird freak him out and do the act in the first place, let alone just as harshly as Kiran reenacted here. And just like last time, when Kiran unfurled his hands, there was now a small, red, shield-shaped charm with the image of the bird it once was, now etched onto the emblem.

“They turn into these when you squish them in your hands. But they turn back into birds when you do it again to these charm things. They were already easy to guide into the convoys anyways, but these can be good to store away somewhere!”

“Hm…” He did see Kiran’s point, even if Soren was as stubborn as ever to admit it all the same. He picked up the small emblem in carefully examining it, feeling nothing from it that he felt from the water bird he toyed with earlier just before inadvertently absorbing it. To Marx’s relief, Soren also didn’t question what led to him discovering this to be the case with the birds either. While Ranulf quietly listened on and off to what went on, he also sniffed the air in keeping to himself, catching a faint smell of sweet dairy before deflating at the gingerbread tones, tipping him off it wasn’t actually food he smelled after all. Not that it stopped him from getting any, but today, he felt particularly lazy.

“I was also gonna ask Alfonse later about it too, but… I don’t really remember if he said anything about these or not.” It was partially Kiran’s poor memories, and partially because, as Soren knew all too well, he was easy to confuse, and not exactly known to take every detail to heart he could’ve no matter the tactical benefit, despite his role to Askr.

“Not that I recall, no.” Fortunately, Soren more than made up for such. “Was there any other details you could tell me of these birds?”

“No, that’s about all we know. Although…” He figured since they were still there, Kiran refocused on the burrow. “Is that a laguz thing?” He just still hadn’t quite figured out the best way to ask.

“Oh. Probably.” Not that Ike minded either way, much as Soren drifted his focus onto the magical birds, rather than on Ranulf’s burrow. “Why?”

“Well... “ Compared to Kiran, Marx was somewhat more reserved to ask. However, now that he did, he followed up on it. “Some time ago, Ryoma and I were compelled to make a nest in a similar manner as this burrow. There were several things about it that inspired all manner of feelings that we were hoping for your insights of.”

“Mrawh.” Unfortunately, it took a little longer for Ranulf to give his full attention. With being repeatedly woken up, and his mood being as it was, he took his time in stretching out his paws just outside the open path of his den while trusting Ike to give his insights in the time it took for the cat laguz to wake up in full. As the cat slipped deeper in the burrow, Ike smiled, if faintly, but proved Ranulf’s trust wasn’t misplaced.

“Ah. I don’t really know what dragons do, but if they’re anything like Ranulf, it’s normal.” Not that Ike tried to disturb the burrow, but he gently patted the wall just below the opening of it. “I just assumed it was a sign of how relaxed and secure a laguz felt. They sleep on regular beds too like beorc, but being here for some time, he felt like building this. He’s pretty proud of it, but he also gets rather touchy of messing too much with it.”

As if to prove Ike’s point, blue paws emerged that reached out and batted against Ike’s hand. Ranulf didn’t use his claws, but the way he padded and swiped at Ike’s hand, gentle as it may be, still tried to coax Ike to stop. Relenting, he took his hand back, and the paws retreated further into the burrow once more. Ike could vaguely hear Soren huff, despite trying not to look at them, and trying even moreso to hide his amusement.

“I see…” Which did make sense. Nohr was still a touchy subject even among the Nohrian royals, particularly the sore memories left behind in Krakenburg that weren’t easily overcome even now. He could imagine likewise that as much as Shirasagi probably held far less painful memories to the Hoshidans, Nohr’s attacks toward the capital, combined with how the two had to spend more time in Askr than their own nations since their war’s end, he couldn’t blame Ryoma’s feelings either. 

That being said, while Ike helped clear a lot of the confusion for why their moods shifted so much over something so simple, Marx also turned to look to Kiran just in time to watch the summoner get distracted by footsteps, and then look back to the doorway.

“Oh! Alfonse! Ah, thank you all for your help. I’m gonna go catch Alfonse, too.”

“Yeah. Go ahead.” Where Kiran seemed hopeful in turning and heading off, Marx hesitated, then decided against following Kiran just yet.

“I’m guessing you took my earlier advice to heart, huh.”

Finally snapping out of his lazy daze, Ranulf emerged from the burrow, but in his humanoid form again, rather than his cat form. Even if Marx thought he took extra care to obscure his neck, he still subconsciously touched the area his marks were.

“Is it so easy to tell even without looking?”

“Oh, it isn’t just looks. It changes your scent, too.” Ranulf stretched once more in unwinding and working out the last few kinks in his neck and shoulder, but was otherwise far more alert now. “In fact, there’s a lot about scents that tell quite a story to other laguz, particularly to the beast tribe.”

“Does it now…” As impressed as he was of it, he was also intimidated of the prospect, too. So much so, that Ranulf immediately picked up _ that _ as well from the burned tones to Marx’s scent.

“Hey. It’s fine. No need to be so nervous.”

Which left Marx even more disarmed when Ranulf saw right through him in spite of still maintaining an outward calm, stoic appearance otherwise. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“But going by your scent, there’s something else about you that you should probably know.”

“Ah. About nests and burrows? That could be quite helpful, especially if something like that would have such a profound effect on our moods. Poor Kiran, we admittedly caught him off guard when we first built ours.”

“...Heh… So you really don’t know yet, then.” He had a playful smile to him that would’ve eased Marx any other time, but now he couldn’t help but feel some level of dread.

“Know what?”

“You’re right that I’ll tell you more about that, but have you noticed anything off about your scent? Or Ryoma’s even?”

“I… It’s not something I paid heavy attention to, I’m afraid. Why, is something wrong?”

“Kinda depends how you feel of it, buuuut…”

* * *

Once again, Kiran got carried away. To his relief, Alfonse recognized the birds for what they were, but what he didn’t expect was how shocked he was at first before calming enough to explain himself.

“Y-yes, it’s *ahem* You’re correct, Kiran. They are indeed common in Askr… Or rather, they _ used _ to be common.”

“Really? Did something happen to them then? How come we didn’t see any until now?”

“I’m honestly rather surprised as well that you not only found them, but found that many at once. As for how they came to be, I unfortunately have no answer… You see, when they were more common, heroes used them to enhance themselves with the power of the elements. They are especially potent depending on the seasons. But, ever since our current war began against Embla, their numbers suddenly dwindled for a time until they almost disappeared completely. Or so I thought, at least.”

“So that’s why you didn’t say anything of them before, right?”

“Yes… But, while I don’t know why they have suddenly returned, I’m glad you gathered them. If you found that many in a single area, then perhaps, we’ll see more of them make a return throughout Askr as a whole.”

“You think so?”

“For now, do take care with who to bestow your current blessings. Usually, they herald their returns with random bursts in numbers, but we can’t be sure if or when their numbers begin to dwindle again. A hero can only be bestowed one at a time, but in the past, I’ve heard of legendary heroes who resonated with certain elements in particular.”

It left Kiran hopeful at the new prospects. It left Alfonse just as hopeful in taking the return of the blessings as a good sign. However, in the time he spent talking with Alfonse a short distance further down the halls from Soren’s door, he completely missed how Marx didn’t wait for him before walking out and leaving Kiran completely.

“Marx! I got so much info from Alfonse! Turns out they’re bless-....ings… um…?”

And by the time he realized it and returned, he noticed how Ranulf seemed to try too hard to hide a stressed, guilty look in greeting Kiran. Ike looked between Ranulf and Kiran in letting him take over, all while Soren seemed much more frustrated than a moment ago.

“Ah… Hey. So, learned anything new about your new bird friends?”

“Oh! Right, um…”

He relayed what he could to the three. He didn’t quite connect the dots between Ranulf’s deflated mood and the disappearance of Marx, but to Soren’s intrigue, Kiran saved him a great deal of time in confirming his suspicions that whatever effect the water blessing he absorbed had on him, it would be more pronounced in combat than elsewhere. 

“Ah, Kiran, before you head out, word of advice. Be gentle to Xander, if you see him around again, will you? Ryoma too, probably.” 

“Uuh, sure thing, Ranulf.”

But then there was the matter of what happened before Kiran shared what he could of blessings. To Ranulf’s credit, he tried one last time to repair the damage he inadvertently caused, albeit only enough not to step on anyone’s toes outright in their relationship. Unfortunately, while Kiran agreed nonetheless, the vague way he warned Kiran made him miss the point for the warning, and he was too hasty to be on his way to ask.

But even with heeding Ranulf’s advice, he couldn’t find Marx anywhere. Maybe something came up? At least, it was a guess, anyways. He tried to check back in their home just in case.

“Kiran…”

But while he still couldn’t find Marx even then, he found Ryoma instead. He stripped out of his armor into softer, comfier clothes, but he looked up to Kiran after seemingly spending a moment ago keeping his head down while lost in his own thoughts. His voice seemed weak and strained, but Kiran couldn’t tell if it was due to still being a little ill, or something else.

He soon was proven it was the latter. The way Ryoma stood up to see Kiran, his steps seemed stable and he carried himself well enough, but Kiran worried of the strong burned scent that radiated off of him. Locking eyes, something about the way Ryoma looked almost seemed… scared? But for what? He tried to make it seem so subtle, yet by then Kiran knew him too well to fall for the calm act in the rest of his body language no matter how much Ryoma tried.

“Ryoma! You’re back! Did you recover at all, even a little?”

For a few days now, Ryoma had a bug or so that left him with nausea. It would come in waves he couldn’t predict that alternated wildly in strength, and while he tried to endure through sheer will, Marx and Kiran agreed beforehand that Ryoma’s stubbornness could’ve potentially made things worse rather than better.

It didn’t inspire confidence when he didn’t give a direct answer. He quietly still approached him.

“...Um… I guess not…?”

Ryoma hesitated for a moment, but with a heavy sigh, he lowered himself just a little, trying to keep himself leveled with Kiran.

“Woah- Ryoma what are you-?!”

But only for a moment, and just long enough to hug Kiran tightly and practically lift him off his feet. Not that Kiran fought, but in his surprise of suddenly being lifted off the ground, and with how much Ryoma nuzzled him and kissed him fairly aggressively along his cheek, it clicked to him that Ryoma was highly anxious and insecure about something.

When Ryoma initially moved to crash his lips against Kiran’s own, he had to reach over to pet Ryoma along his face and hair to get him to stop long enough to speak.

“C-can we take it to the bur-_ bed. _ Please, can we go to the bed to do this?”

Ryoma hesitated, but relented, and he carried him with him to the nest. While there, Kiran could at least be more leveled with Ryoma, but now came the issue of calming his nerves. He still hadn’t quite let him go of him, but he took a moment of just wanting to keep him close by his side. The stressed look on his face became even more apparent now that they laid close by one another.

With him not acting so aggressively anymore in his affections, Kiran took his own initiative in kissing Ryoma on the cheek. He was gentle, and he spaced out his own kisses, just enough to prove to Ryoma he supported him, but not frequent enough to smother or rush him.

“Kiran, you’re still ok with all this, yes? Please don’t leave…”

He blinked. This wasn’t new to him, but he admitted it had been a while since this side to him came up again, to Marx or him otherwise.

“I won’t, I’m still ok of it. What brought this up now?” He was, unfortunately, used to this.

“Please stay…” And he was just as accustomed to what it meant when Ryoma dodged the question. He let Ryoma settle beside him in holding him close to him, seeing how much he tried to make an effort to mute his emotions outwardly, yet seeing his anxieties in his eyes and feeling the rapid rate his heart was beating. He just felt that way. It was a mood that struck once more, and there was little more to be said of it. 

And it was all Kiran cared, anyways. A reason would’ve helped pinpoint what more he could do, but even without one, he simply turned and hugged Ryoma tightly in return, sticking by his side for however long he wanted him to. Ryoma trusted him enough to show the invisible scars he bore, so Kiran had long since learned to be gentle of them.

He closed his eyes in listening to the heartbeat. He stopped paying attention to how much time must have passed. It made the temptation to drift off that much stronger, but for a good amount of time, he tried to resist that urge. Eventually, Ryoma’s heart slowed and calmed at the rate it was beating, and the burning smell eased and faded, yielding to the familiar lychee scent he was accustomed to, albeit thinking it smelled creamier than usual, like a milk candy of some sort.

Either that, or Kiran _ really _ craved ice cream more than he realized, particularly with Marx’s scent also strengthening that thought.

* * *

The summoner continued his work, trying desperately to move past that incident in the other Hoshido.

With one exception.

If Kiran’s jacket wasn’t already eye-catching for all the wrong reasons, it certainly was _ now. _ He still tried everything he could to salvage the jacket, even when by that point, it was too far gone. He barely hid the face, hair, or looks he tried so heavily to obscure with every gentle tug or stubborn hold of his clothes. It was so worn out that it was even more obvious the clothes directly underneath were new and much more put together, resembling clothes similar enough to Alfonse, Sharena and Anna that it was easy to guess they tried to give him replacements.

So why was he so stubborn about this jacket? Or to keep himself so heavily obscured?

“Rather than try to question it, wouldn’t it be best to help replace it?”

Xander had a point, but would Kiran even want to look at Ryoma ever again, let alone accept another jacket from him? And would he even care to take it if that was the one thing he seemed to be clinging on for dear life out of his whole wardrobe? He at least heeded the advice enough to ask Oboro for help, especially when she questioned him enough to form a plan of what to make, but would it be enough?

“Kiran. I wanted to-”

The first time he tried to approach him since the attack, Kiran already visibly tensed, then turned away and ran from him, all while carefully hiding his face as much as possible from him. Ryoma sighed, but remained stubborn.

“Kiran! There you are. I wanted to- _ please _ wait a moment- ….haa….” 

The second time went just as badly, even with Sharena’s help. She led Kiran to walk right in a path she knew Xander and Ryoma waited, and then he just as quickly turned heel and ran the opposite direction upon seeing them, still tensing up and carefully obscuring himself the entire time he ran. Even Sharena was flustered when it became clear through her chasing him it was definitely something about the two princes setting him off so much. Catching a deer bare-handed would’ve been less trying than catching Kiran at this point.

But he still wasn’t ready to give up.

The third time, Xander was much more proactive. Watching Kiran’s demeanor the previous two times, he held a sense of dread that left him unable to trust Kiran to be left alone too long. Was he getting too attached? Did he just see too much of his siblings in him right then? Or maybe he saw himself in him, especially a past version of himself who painted a bleak picture that left him even more worried of staying out of this.

Maybe that other Xander had a point for what he saw in Veronica to make his own decisions to protect her. Maybe they were like his own reasons of wanting to protect Kiran likewise.

So he helped get Ryoma’s foot through the door. Not just figuratively, but literally, in this case. With a knock, Kiran opened his door to peek out, and hesitated when he saw Xander, closing the door in a slow enough pace to give him a chance, but still making it clear how he still wasn’t comfortable with either of them and wanted to be alone.

There was that hollow look in his eyes again. Those eyes Kiran tried so hard to hide all this time that they could just barely glimpse under the hood.

“Kiran, may we have a moment?”

He seemed even more withdrawn as Xander mentioned ‘we’. Sure enough, opening the door a little wider, he revealed Ryoma was with him, and both inadvertently blocked him in his room by virtue of standing in front of the only exit he had besides jumping out the window.

This time, Ryoma didn’t say a word. After seeing the last few times where Kiran ran away from him, he let his actions speak for him instead. He had the new jacket, neatly folded and barely hinting to the golden, Askran-inspired accents lining the collars among other parts of the jacket. Even if it had been the actions of a different Ryoma, he saw enough that some version of him still did far more damage than he should’ve allowed, physically or otherwise. He also saw something in Kiran that reminded him so much of the same vulnerabilities he had to shoulder from his siblings, but what made this sting especially was he allowed a version of him to break Kiran rather than help him.

  
The summoner didn’t expect to see the normally proud Hoshidan completely lower himself in a bow that touched the ground. What neither princes expected likewise was that Kiran recognized the meaning right away. It wasn’t just an apology, but the most extreme of apologies.

“...Get… g-get up…”

Ryoma ignored him and remained in his position. It was to a point Kiran lowered himself likewise and grabbed Ryoma’s shoulder to shake him, weak as the gesture was.

“Get up…! Stop, please get up…!”

“Ryoma…”

It left even Xander surprised how far Ryoma was willing to go with this, also recognizing the gesture, but never expecting Ryoma of all people to perform dogeza.

Unfortunately, he and Kiran _ also _ highly underestimated Ryoma’s stubbornness, and in perhaps being a little _ too _ stubborn, it stressed Kiran out to a point his voice broke more in trying and failing to get Ryoma to sit up. 

“Why can’t you both just leave me alone…?”

Getting up too little too late, it left Ryoma highly keyed up when his plan backfired spectacularly. Instead of coax Kiran to forgive him, all it did was overwhelm him to a point of breaking him further, highly underestimating the damage Kiran already had well before the Hoshido incident, if not before his time in Askr. Rather than find this humbling, Kiran broke down instead, and he barely heard him repeatedly whisper “sorry”, “I’m sorry” or variations he alternated on over and over again, as if they scolded him rather than tried to beg for their own forgiveness. 

Seeing the full extent of it, Xander took a different approach as Ryoma felt equally confused and out of his element. Xander tested Kiran’s boundaries with gentle, small touches that started with patting his shoulder, and ended with him gently pulling him into a chaste hold that Kiran barely leaned in to. While Ryoma wound up rushing too much in holding Kiran close from his other side, trying to mirror Xander, he tensed up when, being this close, he found some odd discoloration to Kiran’s skin they didn't see before in the dark back in Hoshido. The discoloring were just along one of the sides of his face near his eyes, far back enough that he could obscure with his hood if it hadn't been torn to near-ribbons. He tried to move the shredded remains of what barely resembled the hood, but by then, Kiran reached his limit on how much he could handle and immediately grabbed Ryoma’s hand to stop him. His grip was weak, his hand outright trembled, but it sent the message loud and clear to the samurai of why he tried to hide himself all this time.

Both of them tensed and held him closer, like they were guarding him between the two of them from an invisible enemy. Xander recognized signs it didn’t look like the other Ryoma caused this.

No more. They wouldn’t allow this ever again. 

* * *

When Ryoma was calmer, he did feel guilt of smothering Kiran and holding him hostage for his sake. Timidly, he nuzzled him cheek to cheek, kissing him and fussing over him with slow, careful movements hinting to his guilt. Unfortunately, Kiran did eventually succumb to his sleepiness after being lulled long enough by the beat of his heart, the warmth of his body, and the gentleness of his scent, but Ryoma didn’t mind it. After all, he did more than enough for him just to get this far, and he returned the favor in tucking Kiran in properly in the nest.

However, he snapped his attention to the door in seeing Marx return to them, initially happy to see him, up until he noticed how withdrawn and almost lost Marx looked as he closed the door behind him. 

He tensed when Marx looked almost surprised for a moment in seeing Kiran, then calm when he realized Kiran was fast asleep, hesitating in taking a moment to sit at a chair to clear his thoughts.

“Marx?”

He shook his head. He heard Ryoma, but didn’t want to answer at first.

“Marx…” But Ryoma was too stubborn to just brush off. He moved off the nest and approached Marx, but he wouldn’t look at Ryoma until he had a grip on his shoulder, and even then, he still hesitated.

The look he gave to him showed that as much as Marx tried to force himself to look neutral, he couldn’t fully manage it, and his eyes showed he was scared of something.

“Marx, what happened?” He wasn’t about to let Marx keep things bottled up anymore. And to his relief, Marx relented just as quickly in knowing that, too.

“...We need to talk.”

“Then I’ll wake Kiran and-”

“No. Just us…”

“Marx, we-”

“Please, Ryoma…”

As much as Ryoma hesitated to keep secrets from one another, he also hesitated when Marx looked desperate, and was a few nerves away from breaking. 

He sighed heavily, but pulled up a chair to sit in front of Marx, relenting in at least wanting to hear Marx out before deciding whether or not to coax him to open up to Kiran later.

“...Did you notice our scents changed?”

“Hm? ...Now that you mentioned it, yes. Slightly.” But he didn’t quite think about it up to now. The changes were subtle enough to practically sneak up on them. With a quiet sniff, he definitely picked up the changes now.

“Ranulf noticed as well… Your scent changed a bit, too.”

“Did he mention what it meant? Is that what’s troubling you?”

Marx took in a deep breath. Even his breath faltered.

“...We were so careless. Why couldn’t we have been more careful? Political pressure or not, I-I can’t-”

“Marx, please. What is it? What did it mean?” Ryoma tried to reign Marx’s attention back. With how he spoke and acted, he hadn’t seen Marx’s mood slip and fall to such meek, scared, panicked levels since the times he forced himself to retell old, painful memories when Garon’s sanity worsened.

But between his concerns for what the politics of Nohr would think, combined with how Marx only let Ryoma take one of his hands while the other hand drifted to touch just under his stomach, there was a brief spark of panic putting two and two together.

“...Marx, it’ll be ok. Between the three of us, we can handle this.” 

“Kiran wouldn’t agree to this…” Marx was quick to counter, which only cemented Ryoma’s suspicions of what happened. “And between the two of us, and… You saw how much my siblings suffered no matter how much I tried to protect them..! How would he ever want-”

“Were you ever planning to ask me how I feel, rather than just assume?”

Marx jumped. Between him nearly freaking out on Ryoma as he spoke, and suddenly hearing Kiran, he couldn’t keep his composure anymore. He panicked in looking to the nest, and from the way Kiran slumped at the edge of the nest wall to stare at them, he was up for quite some time, if barely so.

“Or you two could keep freaking out over what-ifs and keep dodging the question to my face… Cuz those times are _ sooo _ fun…” Maybe he was cranky, but given all the other times recently, he was annoyed especially of how Marx would rather drive himself into a panic attack and take Ryoma down with him than actually speak to him of it all.

“K-Kiran… You… I-I’m not-”

“Marx, stop. He has a point.” And he figured with Kiran awake, and with the way he patted the nest as if inviting the two back into it, Ryoma stood up and tried to help Marx follow suit, already feeling slight tells of how Marx’s legs buckled that Ryoma tightened his hold on the paladin while guiding him back to the nest. Kiran shifted away to his original spot, all while his two fiancés settled beside him. Where Ryoma was starting to feel overwhelmed for how much hindsight was piling up in his thoughts, Marx still looked almost resigned to expect the worst.

“So… I guess now I see why Ranulf fell all over himself, warning me to be gentle on you.”

“He- ...Ah…” Marx caught himself too late mid-thought. Normally, he would be open to Kiran’s affections, but in his current mood, he wound up stiffer than he meant to be when Kiran turned over just enough to wrap his arms around him and hug him beside his chest. Marx was also just as half-hearted to pat Kiran along the back in return.

“Besides, I agreed to do the deed with either of you, too. I brought it on myself just as much as onto you. Maybe I wasn’t exactly thinking about kids beforehand, and I barely know how to raise myself half the time, but I won’t turn my back on you after coming this far.”

“Kiran… You know what this means, yes?”

“I’m stupid, but I’m not _ that _ stupid, Marx.” He nuzzled against Marx’s chest more. “Besides, I trust both of you to help and follow you guys. At least you have your siblings to get some ideas from.”

“But… You saw how they turned out. Corrin, Kamui, I couldn’t protect any of them in full from Garon-!”

“And you were also a child then, Marx. At least I had Mother to help at the time, but you had too much foisted on you at too young an age.” Ryoma was also quick to add to Kiran’s point, much as it flustered him of the self-depreciation. As much as Marx had difficulty seeing the same point they had from his perspective, he was slowly coming around.

“And you’re older and have more experience now. If you could steer me off doing stupid shit, I’m sure they’ll be in good hands between the three of us.”

“Kiran… Did you really have to…?”

“In this case? Yes.” And while he knew he had to watch his language eventually, for now, he was too tired and cranky to have as much of a filter.

“... What if I turn out like Garon? What if, somehow, I turn on our child, like he did?”

As usual, Kiran was blunt as ever, particularly with how he huffed against Marx’s chest immediately and shook his head.

“Not if my contracts have anything to say about it…”

“K-Kiran…”

“Whether or not I’m joking, you won’t turn into him. It’s a promise.”

He tried all he could to navigate around Marx’s anxieties. Much like Ryoma’s anxieties, he was all too used to how to try to ease Marx’s heart and mind when he got too overwhelmed of the past nipping at his heels. At least it made sense to him now why the two seemed more anxious more often.

“And… you’re truly alright with all this?”

“_ Yes… _ It’s up to you if you’re ok with it, and as new as the idea is that you could get knocked up at all, I’m ok with whatever you decide.” He tried to be supportive, even if all their changes Loki thrusted on them still threw him off at times. He felt Ryoma slip closer to him and embrace him from behind, kissing at his neck similarly while relaxing beside Kiran otherwise.

“And you’re ok with two children? Assuming it isn’t more?” Maybe Ryoma’s question was more loaded than his casual tone led on, but he was already starting to get anxious of whether or not Kiran had the same attitude to find out Marx wasn’t the only one pregnant.

“...We’ll survive.”

“Kiraaan…” As much as Ryoma’s tone was pained and offended, he did so to tease the summoner for his hesitance.

“T-there’s three of us, we’ll be fine!”

“Heh…”

“Which reminds me… Here’s a present to celebrate.”

Kiran wiggled in trying to shift to lay on his back. As flustered as Ryoma and Marx were to disengage, they watched as Kiran held his hands up only to let a rather large silk pillow fall onto him. Specifically, the pillow the two mused over that held the Askran symbol.

“Ah! So you finished it.”

“Is… is that an egg…?”

But where Kiran happily passed the pillow between the two lords, they were baffled at how the pillow’s shape was rounded and egg-like, rather than a square. At first, it left the two confused on whether or not the cushion’s shape was accidental, even if neither cared to nitpick of such, until Ryoma happened to turn it just enough for Marx’s eyes to lighten up to notice a smaller pair of emblems resembling Hoshido and Nohr’s insignias on it as well.

“...You remembered my egg I gave you?”

“I still have it!” Granted, Kiran forgot where in his convoy that egg was, but he knew it was somewhere in there. At least it explained why Kiran seemed highly secretive of when he chose to work on the pillow all this time.

Too bad Kiran also heavily underestimated not just Marx’s strength, but what happened when his emotions finally spilled over at a time his emotions were already wound up every which way.

“C-can’t-! Breathe-!”

But at least he was assured his pillow was well received, even if he had to sleep that night while drenched in tears and sore along his back from Marx’s grip.

* * *

They got careless.

Why didn’t they keep a better eye on him?

Xander held his hands on either side of his head as he sat down, stewing not only in grief, but in anger. He was heavily aware of Ryoma pacing around in his own anxiousness as the two stuck close by the infirmary when they weren’t allowed to stay in there.

It all happened like a blur. They were battling. They thought they had the upper hand. Where Xander and Ryoma initially had each other’s backs, both of them strayed from that tactic when they grew distracted in protecting their other allies. They both turned their back at just the wrong time, and by the time they realized, they were only alerted to such in the form of a loud boom behind them.

By the time they turned around, Kiran was struck down with a visible pair of arrows protruding from his stomach, and then his chest, near his shoulder. The boom was Kiran, in his desperate attempt to fight back, loading Breidablik with badges instead of orbs, which now shot into the face of the archer who shot Kiran down. It was Kiran’s first kill, but the two were terrified that, because of their carelessness, it may have been his last as well.

It took hours for Sakura to step out, but it felt like an eternity. To their massive relief, they brought Kiran just in time, and his life was saved, even if they had to force him to stay off active duty. Kiran remembered their pain, their tears, the visible stress they had that strained their nerves, and how upset the two got in their raised voices and their reflexive, harsh commands disallowing him to go out and battle ever again.

And yet, Kiran didn’t hold it against either of them on how they reacted. Underneath their stress, outrage and grief, it stunned him to see anyone react as they had over him of all people. It left him quietly stunned how far that care seemed to extend after all.

Then again, he _ was _ the idiot who ran straight up to an archer to take arrows in their stead to protect them likewise. He couldn’t help but laugh back then, and it was enough to disarm the two in their confusion of seeing Kiran weirdly happy for the first time, as ridiculous as the cause was.

“...Kiran… I see now… So this is what Kiran is like.”

The person she was fated to meet. The broken bird who fell and rose anew. This was the one who the Rite of Dreams dictated to be her fated one.

Without any cover hiding him, Gunntha could see his face clearly. She noticed the distinct features to him that being nearly stripped in his infirmary stay had exposed, compared to all the times he kept himself hidden. And as she watched the dream continue, and seeing how he fully recovered from his wounds from the archer and even the bruises he came to this world with, she saw him in his full glory as he donned the jacket Oboro tailored for him. In this, he was exactly as Hrid and Ylgr vaguely described.

But the rite’s power was still young and new. This was her fated one, but his consciousness wasn’t able to find her just yet. Still, she took comfort that _she_ at least found _him_, for now. It was only a matter of time before the two could meet, in dreams or otherwise.

* * *

“Kiran, are you secure?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re certain? You have a tight hold here?”

“Yes, Ryoma, I’m fine.”

“If you’re sure. I must warn, kinshis and wyverns are quite notorious for being rough on take-off.”

“Yes! I’m sure! Perfectly fine! If Mikau doesn’t scare me, WangJi won’t!”

“Hmhmhm~ If you say so.”

Finding time to themselves, Ryoma invited Kiran to fly with him. He figured he could do with taking a few more breaks from his training to ease off stress, but learned quickly that a joyride still counted just enough as practice, but was calming enough to arguably count as a break as well.

As his kinshi, WangJi, rapidly took to the air, Kiran quickly learned why Ryoma pestered him so much, and also proved his point exactly how sudden and jerky mounting the bird was when the kinshi flew more upward than forward as he had expected. Still, when maintaining altitude, the flight did prove smoother, and Kiran trusted Ryoma to manage the flight enough to relax. 

“Where are we going, anyways?”

“You really want to spoil the surprise so soon?”

He pouted. He kinda did, but also kinda didn’t. In stewing between his impatience versus his hype, his eyes widened as Ryoma revealed what appeared to be entire islands simply floating in the sky. Upon landing on one of them, he saw evidence that there used to be a civilization here, but what wasn’t already destroyed by attacks of some sort were withered and abandoned to time.

“I found islands like these while training. I hadn’t surveyed this entire area, but with a foundation as low as this, it might be low enough to connect to one of the nearby plateaus. If it did, we can draw a path on the road to here.”

“And I guess if it didn’t, we could plan ahead on who to get to fly up here and how… It’s so high up here! Would this even count as part of Askr anymore?”

“I suppose that would depend on the Askran royals.” And as much as Ryoma had every intention to ask Alfonse or Sharena, he didn’t quite relish the thought of speaking to Gustav instead.

There’s so much stuff here already, too… It kinda reminds me of Ye Olde Duskbowl.”

Ryoma snorted before he could help himself.

“Kiran… It’s an interesting name, but the curse over the lost kingdom had been long broken now. Besides, what of your other name suggestions?”

“What about them? It’s not like we can name this place, can we?”

“We could if we kept it just between us, perhaps. At least, until one of the Askrans clarify.”

“I guess that’s fair.” Then again in running through all the names he tried to suggest to call the silent kingdom other than its actual name, he did find one that stuck out, in light of it all.

“...Maybe Balmung could work.”

“Very well. Balmung it is, for now. As for the path...hmmm…”

He coaxed WangJi to take flight again. Yet again, he still managed to unnerve Kiran in take-off, but tried to stay mostly consistent in his flight path from the point Balmung started and the point he could find a plateau it connected to. In following the path, he planned out a path that was certainly ideal on a mount, but probably would take no more than a half an hour on foot otherwise.

Finding Alfonse, Sharena, Anna and Marx was the easy part, and it was easier still to transport all of them at once with Ryoma and Marx transformed to fly directly, but the hard part was coaxing the three to trust either of them likewise to actually mount them on the flight to and from there. As it turned out, dragons were just as bad at rough take-offs as well.


	4. What may have been...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He tried to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. But now they’re old enough to take up the weapon said to tie the skies together. If this world failed them, then maybe...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! For post updates, questions, art and general random silliness in between, check me out at eriisaam.tumblr.com for more!

“Kiran… Where are you…? Why haven’t you returned yet…?”

Ryoma remained overly tense. Normally, these kind of moods would've led to him pacing around the room, anxious of when Kiran would return, why he hadn't already, and dozens of fears brewing of what could've happened to keep him _ this _ time. Unfortunately, no matter how anxious, he was too far along by then to care to stay on his feet any longer than he had to. It relieved Marx not to have to watch Ryoma pacing around the room and driving his own anxieties up, but he was still flustered as usual of how easily Ryoma's anxieties could consume him. 

"Ryoma…" Marx knew better than to tell him to calm down or stop, but it didn't leave him any less concerned, especially not just for Ryoma's sake, but for Shiro's as well. As Ryoma still seemed too keyed up to relax, Marx made his way to sit closer by his side, trying to mask his frustrations of how heavily his own child weighed him down nowadays. "Kiran is in good hands. He can take care of himself."

_ "He's late." _ Maybe Ryoma snapped a little more harshly than he intended, and he couldn't tell anymore if he truly had a bad feeling, or if being so far along made it harder to cope without both his spouses accounted for, but he hated how he couldn't keep as close an eye on Kiran for himself even if he knew he had to pull out of the front lines to protect their children. 

But what if something happened this time? What if the Order of Heroes were wiped out? What if any minute, Alfonse would've shown up to their door just to tell them Kiran was killed in the line of duty? What if

_ "Ryoma!" _

He jumped a little. It jostled him enough that he could feel even Shiro move a little as well. He was in a slight daze, and it took him a moment to realize Marx rose his voice after repeatedly trying and failing to snatch his attention back. He felt Marx hold his hands to either of Ryoma's cheeks, forcing him to look at him. Ryoma focused on the way he looked concerned for Ryoma's lapsed focus, but warm and hopeful enough to try to think positively. 

"He'll be ok." He reiterated his point from before, and tried to push that point further with a gentle peck to Ryoma's lips. "It'll be ok. He'll be ba-"

And there he was, just in time to interrupt Marx. 

They both turned to face the door. They were both keyed up - Ryoma worse so - of even the slightest sound from it. To their relief, Kiran returned and stepped into their room, just as Marx said.

"H-hey… Missed me?"

But in their vigilance, they took in his scent quicker than his looks. Mixed with the familiar bonfire scent was copper, and his mostly-white coat was marred with a red patch and a visible hole.

"Kiran!" "You-!"

No matter how heavily pregnant either of them were, it never failed to impress (and terrify) Kiran how quickly the two could bring themselves back on their feet, and moreso how quickly the two rushed over and smother him. He tried to mitigate their efforts to approach them and shorten their trip, but he still found himself dragged to their nest and surrounded by bottles of vulneraries and a small pile of cloth. By then he hesitated to stress them out more and thus, stripped down quicker and with less protest, but despite carrying a noticeable scar from a stab wound to the side of his stomach, Kiran knew he couldn't help it. It seemed small and fitting that some kind of daggar stabbed him there.

_ "What happened?" _ Immediately, Ryoma's tone turned tense. Even when the wound was closed enough not to bleed, the fact it didn't properly heal enough to still leave a mark had immediately stressed both kings out.

"I-it was an accident… that's all…" Kiran seemed truthful enough, and yet, there was some hesitance in his voice. They both glared, thinking he was covering for someone. "Please, i-it's just an accident, that's it. I separated from the rest just to talk, and she…"

They were stubborn. With a vulnerary opened, and a pair of cloth drenched, Kiran patiently let the two rub the magic tonic all around the area, if only to give them a bit of peace of mind.

"Kiran, why didn't you go to a healer?! How long ago was this, why did you let this go unattended long enough to scar over like this?!" Even if Marx tried to even out his tone as not to speak as sharply as Ryoma, he was still stern and full of questions. It didn't sit well to either of them how Kiran seemed tense and hesitant, but deliberately so.

"Kiran?!" 

"I _ did _ go to a healer." He knew it looked like otherwise, but he was firm in confirming it. "It happened a moment ago. This was the best they could do."

"_ Kiran of all the things to lie about-" _

"Marx, wait, look…"

But he wasn't lying. Ryoma redirected Marx's attention to focus less on scolding Kiran, and more on his wound. It remained the same raw scar as before, as if the vulnerary had no effect. There really was nothing more to be done of it.

Kiran smiled to them, if a bittersweet, faint one. He moved to hug both of them close and nuzzled either of them cheek to cheek to soothe them.

"It's ok… I'm fine, it'll be ok… Please don't worry and stress, both of you. Ok? You both have enough to worry about as it is."

"Kiran, that is too great a request…" Marx relented that Kiran tried his best, but it was still upsetting he was hurt at all. "So long as you remain out in the fields, risking yourself as you do, we will both continue to worry. Especially now that we can't fight beside you."

"Please, promise you'll be much more careful next time, Kiran…" Ryoma followed Marx's example, but tried to calm himself more with the relief Kiran was fine otherwise. "We can't lose you… not after all of this…"

"Yeah, I know. I promise…" He leaned forward and kissed the two. He meant well and tried his best.

* * *

But his best wasn't enough. 

For a time, they were happy. They could laugh off the scar and put it in the back of their thoughts in favor of better, brighter things. Kiran poured more attention to his spouses than he did of his wound. It made it that much easier to lull themselves into letting their guards down.

And then everything began to crumble.

A stray cough here. Dark circles there, under his eyes. He looked paler, and he made his spouses each jump more than once as their warm, bare skin touched his frightfully cold hands.

"Kiran? Is something wrong? ..._ Kiran?! Sharena, Anna, get a healer, quick!" _

And then just like that, he collapsed one day, to the horror of the Askrans. They tried as quickly as they could to help him, but it still wasn't enough. By then, his earlier scar turned black, and there were sickly black veins scattered across his pale body, of which that scar was the source. He was as pale as _ her _, but unlike her, his health deteriorated in ways they all knew he was not long for this world.

"No… Kiran… Don't close your eyes, look at me… please…"

"Marx… Ryoma…"

"We're both here, but… Kiran…"

It couldn't end this way. They couldn't allow this. But there was nothing left to be done. Kiran's health rapidly failed as if he were poisoned, yet there was no toxin to purge. Like the wound that started it all, nothing about Kiran's wounds or illness would relent no matter who tried to heal him or how. It was beyond their skills, and out of Ryoma's or Marx's hands to command otherwise.

"N-no… Y-you can't-! Please… Not now, not like this…"

"Kiran… No, please, focus on us… Y-you're stronger than this, if we could just-"

"H-hey… hey… promise me something, will you? Promise you'll take care of each other…"

_ "Don't. Don't say that." _

"Please… both of you…"

There had to be something. _ Anything. _ An herb, some kind of medicine, a hex, just _ something. _

But even if there was, it was far too late to find it.

  
  


By morning, he was gone. They all knew. There was a cry unlike any other that rang down the halls that said enough. 

Most knew better than to intervene. Ryoma and Marx were given the first chance to pay their last respects to Kiran's body. His heart stopped into the night, and he succumbed to his illness. It tore into their hearts at the confirmation, and it left them grieving in their own ways. Marx was the first of the two who broke down and cried into Kiran's chest, unable to cope with Kiran abandoning them so soon.

"...Get out."

Ryoma broke next, but in a much different way. His heart was already heavy at Kiran's loss, and moreso to see Marx act as he himself felt.

But he wouldn't tolerate someone trying to get between them when their emotions were so raw and vulnerable. Especially not _ her. _

_ "Get the hell out of here!" _ There was no more patience to be cordial or restraint to his outrage. He didn't care who else heard. _ "How fucking_ **_dare_ ** _ you think you're allowed here! It's because of _ ** _you_ ** _ he died! If you come anywhere near us again I will fucking kill you! _ ** _Understand?!_ ** _ " _

With his point clear, he watched her run away and back off. _ Good riddance. _ It took him a moment to realize his hands suddenly felt wet before noticing he dug his nails so tight into his palms that he cut himself. It took him longer to realize his cheeks were completely drenched in tears despite such a vicious glare.

Why? Why did it have to be this way? Was there really no way to save him…?

* * *

The mark Kiran left on either of their necks started to fade. No matter how desperate either of them were to keep it, eventually, it was gone from both their necks.

The nest didn't feel the same way anymore. It felt sickening to be near it, let alone to sleep in it. The process to dismantle it was slow, sloppy, and drawn out when their minds were elsewhere.

So when Alfonse approached them, and with his intentions made clear how he wanted them to return home for good, rather than just until their kids were settled, neither Marx nor Ryoma protested the idea further. The prince didn't feel it fair to burden the two when they took someone so precious to them away. It would've been a betrayal to Kiran to risk either of them or their children after such. But even as Alfonse made his points clear they were still always welcome in Askr despite their discontinued service, there were half-hearted, single-worded answers spoken in hushed, tired tones from either kings that made it clear how little they thought more of it all, and how resolved they already were to leave. 

So they packed. They stripped the room back to the way it was. They returned to Hoshido despite either of their families continuing to aid Askr even when the two kings lost their will to fight anymore themselves.

It was so quiet without everyone else… But then perhaps, that was for the best. Askr seemed busier lately, not that either of them had the mental strength to find out why. They barely had the physical strength to unpack from their convoys.

The only thing they unpacked were Kiran's robes, and Breidablik.

His gun… the gun that could call upon heroes from different worlds, no matter their circumstance… Maybe if…

"Ryoma…"

Just one more time. He wanted to see him one more time.

"Ryoma _ stop!" _

But of course, Breidablik did nothing but simply click over and over, no matter how many times Ryoma pulled its trigger. The clicking and the clear lack of response from the weapon only served to upset Marx more, and he outright grabbed Ryoma's wrist to get him to stop.

The weapon chose Kiran, not them. It was like how Raijinto obeyed Ryoma, and Siegfried obeyed Marx. It was a foolish idea to entertain, thinking just any of them could've used Breidablik otherwise, much less to summon Kiran back.

The only thing they could focus on now was each other. So they did.

  
  


They tried to make the most of things in Shirasagi. With his grief over Kiran, Marx was far from capable of ignoring and dismissing his bitter memories of Krakenburg on top of it all, so he didn't protest Ryoma's suggestion to stay in Hoshido, if not outright give birth there, if it came to that. With how much both of them had to force themselves to eat, rest, and function in general, it was just as much a struggle to try to carry the other and dote on them, too. 

"...You uh… you still coming up with a name?" Ryoma tried to distract Marx for the moment, even if his voice faltered and his attempts were half-hearted.

"For what…?" And likewise, not only was Marx's focus bad enough to barely take in Ryoma's words, but he was just as slow to pay much attention to what the subject was. He stared vacantly ahead, but didn't focus on anything in particular.

"For him." Ryoma reached over to gently press a hand against Marx's belly. It was like Marx forgot all about the baby, or for that matter being pregnant, especially for how long he looked to Ryoma's hand or how much more time he took before reaching down to cradle his belly otherwise.

Would it be too much to name him after Kiran? Or a similar idea? But then it wouldn't be fair, considering Shiro was already named under much happier circumstances.

"...Marx…"

"I'll think of something…" But it may not be _ now _, after all. Or tomorrow. Or the day after. Or even for the rest of the week.

Instead, when Marx was able to do more than the bare minimum to make sure he and his child survived, he was concerned for his and Ryoma's health and safety to give birth. He sent correspondence back to Askr as he put his plans in motion to secure their future when Ryoma was stressed enough to shoulder the burdens of the present. 

He tried to ask Alfonse to bring back healers he didn't need, if possible. Preferably Elise and Sakura just to give either brothers not only peace of mind of the safety of their youngest siblings, but trusting their skills and feeling the familiarity of them would be much easier to manage than a healer they knew less personally. 

But then while Marx initially gave the benefit of the doubt that they were, perhaps, too busy to write back in a timely manner, he continued to send more messages. His tone gradually shifted from earlier willing himself to be so cordial despite his ailing moods, to becoming increasingly desperate, if not outright terrified, the more messages he sent that went ignored. His last attempt begged so desperately for their sisters that it was as if begging for the freedom of a hostage.

Then Ryoma helped take more proactive measures. He sent a platoon to head to the Askran gate Alfonse established as a back door, the gate he set up to make their travels to this specific Hoshido and Nohr easier that Alfonse and Sharena never dismantled even long after Marx's and Ryoma's retirement. 

Both of their hearts sank when it turned out otherwise. The connection collapsed completely, it seemed, and Askr was all but lost to them.

There was even more panic between the two kings. Without Kiran, there was no Breidablik. Without Kamui or Corrin, there would be no portal to open through their birthrights from Anankos either. Marx's messages seem to get through well enough, but nothing came back of it. They thought any trace of Askr to them was lost forever.

Until one day, there was one last attempt for Askr to reach out to them after all.

The troops Ryoma sent out had returned one day with a bundle of cloth and something clearly swaddled in it. As Ryoma accepted it and took it back to Marx, they both panicked in realizing it was Feh.

She was sick. She was weak. She struggled to breathe and focus on either of the two.

She was dying. 

It didn't go past their notice how much Feh seemed to show symptoms Kiran did just before he died. The healers they were left with in Hoshido now couldn't quite match the potency of Sakura, Mikoto or Ikona, but Ryoma and Marx recognized signs that it may not have made a difference after all. 

"Feh, what happened to you?" Marx urged her while cradling her and fussing over her. She was always the most affectionate to him out of the three of them. It brought her enough peace to try to get to the point, while she still had the strength.

"E-everyone… f-fall…. one by one… E-every…"

"Feh? Please… Feh, hold on…!"

"Did… I do good…?"

"Y-yes…"

He held back for a moment just long enough for Feh's sake, but the owl eventually stopped moving and felt lighter in Marx's hold. After her passing, Marx's arm's felt heavier, to a point Ryoma had to catch Feh's body before he would've dropped her.

_ That's _ why nobody would write back. _ That's _ why they were completely ignored. 

Every one of their siblings, every retainer to serve them, every friend or foe or newfound family they and Kiran made along the way…

All gone.

They were all gone.

* * *

Marx was all he had left. Ryoma was all he had left likewise. Until their babies were born, the only people left were servants who they could barely trust.

For good reason.

In just a moment, he found Marx badly wounded and bleeding openly from a stab wound. To make it worse, as Ryoma tried to treat Marx's wound himself to stabilize him and get help, Marx felt a sharp clench to his belly that left him crumbling and buckling under the pain. Ryoma tried his best to help support Marx while in labor, but grew frustrated how difficult it was to find the help the two needed compared to how easily they had it prior to Askr's downfall.

"Marx, breathe. Please breathe! I'm here, don't let go, ok?"

It felt like an eternity. Marx was already tired and Ryoma couldn't tell if his pain was beyond what the healers could soothe for their skill level, or worse, that they didn't really try. After all, Marx was the Nohrian king, and not every Hoshidan were quite so willing to forgive and forget Garon's deeds.

"R-Ryoma-_ aah! _"

"Shh, shh, don't talk right now, keep breathing." 

Ryoma tried his best to retrace what he recalled his parents did when Ikona had his younger siblings, even if the memories were so old and faint. He worried how Marx's grip to his hand weakened the longer this went on, until finally, with a release, their first son was born, still without a name planned even up to now.

"You did good." Ryoma kissed Marx on the cheek, knowing he was too exhausted and breathing far too harshly to respond, but he didn't push him. "You did good, keep breathing, try to regain yourself first."

He was pale. He was an utter mess, and highly self-conscious, but far too exhausted to hide, even if there was some sense of shame he visibly shared for Ryoma to have to see him like this no matter the context of how he got this way. Ryoma worried and fussed to help Marx until he no longer had reason to push, and Ryoma no longer had reason to hover, shifting his attention to their first son. He was fine. He was safe. Everything should've been ok.

So why? Why then did he have to die anyways?

Ryoma watched their son like a hawk. Nobody would dare try anything funny no matter his lineage so long as their king was standing right there and watching, up until his son was swaddled and kept in his arms. However, Ryoma was only one man, who thought he could trust his own servants to do their job, and didn't think his decision of who to watch over between Marx or his son would have been nearly so weighted.

He brought their son over in checking on Marx. First, it took a moment of thinking Marx fell asleep. Then it took a moment to realize he didn't look like he was breathing, and he was much paler than when he left him.

When it finally clicked what happened, Ryoma took all his will power to remind himself that his son was in his arms and he shouldn't act too rash, but a wave of grief and anger overtook him.

Marx's body was broken and torn from the strain of giving birth. He struggled with the added challenge that he already lost a lot of blood before, and lost even more having his son. He didn't have to die. _ He shouldn't have died. _ But when Ryoma focused on their son, the only conclusion Ryoma could draw was that the healers 'accidentally' forgot to treat him and heal him. Much like how they 'accidentally' forgot to give him any relief in the first place.

He saw right through them now, but far too late to save Marx. It was all but confirmed when they had the nerve to try to use Ryoma's own pregnancy and carry the health of his son over his head as incentives of why he still needed them and shouldn't be mad.

One 'just get over it!' later, and he reminded them in kind he was the fucking king and they _ will _ remember that, even if he had to make an example of them to do it.

* * *

"Was this your plan all along, Lord Ryoma?! To marry King Xander so you could usurp control over his throne?! And what of the duke or his lands, hmm?!"

"And what other choice would you have?! To force a 3 month old child to rule instead?! So is _ this _ the kind of logic that left Garon unchecked for so long?!"

Ryoma could see now why every briefing among Nohrian politicians would leave Marx nerves away from a mental breakdown. That man had patience like no other, and as the only one left of the three, not only did Ryoma have to pick up where Marx left off, but balance such with his rule over Hoshido as well. Any other tyrant would've dreamed for such an opportunity, especially Garon, but when Ryoma made his vows, this was far from the way he hoped this would all turn out.

"Obviously not! Do choose your words more carefully before you say such outlandish things! What of Lady Camilla? What of Lord Leo? Surely if you send word-"

"_ They're. All. _ ** _DEAD._ ** _ What part of this do you not _ ** _fucking_ ** _ understand?! Do you really take me for that much of a fool that I wouldn't consider that option if it was actually there?! And how _ ** _dare_ ** _ you tell me to watch my tone, I will tell you over and over however many _ ** _fucking_ ** _ times it takes until you all realize I'm all you have left now!" _

He hated it. He hated how desperate the Nohrian politicians were to try to ignore his right to the throne as King-Dowager of Nohr, all because they tried so desperately not to allow a Hoshidan to rule. There was no sympathy, no pity, or in this case, even logical sense to be had that Ryoma was still heavily pregnant, caring for a newborn, was recently widowed for the second time, or how his own people couldn't be completely trusted, much less these people. He felt a sharp clench in his belly that he had to will himself to ignore, all while too distracted to take pause and realize what such a pain would've meant. He couldn't tell what part of him would pop first between his belly or his sanity, especially as these people still kept trying his patience.

"I'm King-Dowager. Without any of the Nohrian royals left, I'm the only one capable enough to rule. I will not allow you vultures to try to tear the country apart over your grudges against me or my people, nor will I allow you to manipulate my son! If you're going to continue to debate me, then you're more than welcome to go to Askr and dig up all that was lost for yourself! There is nothing more to debate or discuss of it no matter how desperate you all are not to accept it! Now _ leave!" _

And he had unfortunately known them well enough to try. He couldn't allow them to steal Siegbert or break him with all their nigh impossible expectations of him. It would've betrayed Marx's memories otherwise, even if it left Ryoma always stressed to his limits and always with a darkened look in his eyes. But for their sake, he had no other choice.

He was far more cautious of who to pick to help him with a Deeprealm he was preparing. He was far more vigilant to screen and watch the candidates as he tested them. He couldn't pretend that he could be a good parent and give his sons the proper care they deserved while fending off so many people breathing down his neck to take them. He could barely force himself to manage to get up and function every day and willingly wake up and subject himself to this, all while one of his sons proved particularly stubborn to be born in the first place. 

Well, at least _ one _ of those were easy to change.

He went to check on Siegbert. There were a few servants he was starting to trust, seeing genuine care and gentleness in how they doted on Siegbert and their fussiness asking about his own health. He didn't fully let his guard down, but it was such a long time ago that he could trust anyone even to this level. It made him miss the rest of his friends and family, or the times he didn't have to overthink their intentions. 

The only thing to snap him out of his thoughts, be it plans for Siegbert and Shiro's future or otherwise, was when the pain just below his belly reached a point he couldn't will himself to ignore anymore. Maybe the stress finally got to him, or Shiro had interesting timing otherwise, but Shiro's coming arrival brought the king to his knees. 

He hated it. He hated being so vulnerable, especially when he was the only one left to protect them. But he had to bear through it with barely much support. He could feel Siegbert's caretakers at least try to make the earnest effort to soothe his pain and help deliver Shiro - and to that, he was grateful - but it wasn't enough to take his pain completely away, and it left him anxious for how flighty and easily frightened they were that he couldn't tell if they had reason to be concerned, or if he merely set them off just going into labor. 

It shouldn’t have been this way. Through gritted teeth and a stubborn will, he had to do all he could to survive for both their sakes. Without Marx or Kiran, it was all him now, even if he had to run himself to the ground. 

Perhaps there was some mercy to be had after all. He lived, and Shiro survived with him. The healers he happened to be with were just capable enough to know how to keep him and his newborn son alive. They had enough mercy on him to at least give him the time he needed to regain himself, before he could start again and push himself anew to stay as Siegbert and Shiro’s pillar.

One day, he might not be able to take anymore. One day, he might rejoin Marx and Kiran, one way or another. But for now, they needed him.

* * *

For saving his life - and in a way, saving Siegbert’s and Shiro’s as well - Ryoma did trust those particular servants enough to promote them. He trusted them with the Deeprealm, giving thorough instructions to stay there and help care for Siegbert and Shiro when he couldn’t fully commit to such himself. In exchange, it would be their property. He would give them whatever price they asked, whatever luxury they wanted, so long as they protected his sons and allowed him to visit them. To his surprise, they tried to be modest in his requests, but Ryoma kept his word, and tried to make time for his sons in the brief times he could escape from under the crushing weight of ruling Nohr and Hoshido to retreat to them. 

Out there, he was cold and strict. Back here, he could at least pretend he was allowed a moment of peace to do what he promised to Kiran and Marx when he married them. To have some shred of normalcy in his life again. At first, he retained some level of softness in his heart seeing Shiro and Siegbert grow up with the type of fussiness he expected. Their outbursts some times and neediness other times, unfortunately, paled so far in comparison to the much more ruthless adult tantrums flung his way in his own world as to be his respite now, as sad as it was to think. He took advantage of them being so small and new to the world, or the way they were far too young to notice the obvious tells all over his body and face that Ryoma was breaking at the seams slowly but surely. 

But he knew the rules of the Deeprealms, even if he didn’t always remember them sometimes. They wouldn’t stay small for long. They grew every time he returned to them, and as they did, he started seeing more of Marx and Kiran in them. Shiro may have looked like him, but he was such a wild and reckless spirit, ruled over easily by his hastiness and impulsiveness. Siegbert was much more quiet and kept to himself, and he took patience of a different sort to coax out of hiding and earn his trust with how easily frightened he could get. He otherwise took so much after Marx in looks. When they were old enough to speak, Shiro spoke much more frankly compared to how Siegbert was so polite and formal for his age. That difference only grew stronger the more Ryoma shared what Marx and Kiran were like, let alone the rest of their family. It was like the two tried their best to emulate their other fathers for what they envisioned the two to be like.

He wouldn’t allow them to be forgotten. Whatever it took, he tried his best to capture everything he could remember of them to convey to the two.

But there were things he himself wanted to forget and leave behind to his own world. The questions did eventually come of what Nohr and Hoshido were like, what Askr was like, and more specifically, why Ryoma didn’t want them to leave the Deeprealms just yet. He would dodge those kind of questions every time, hiding behind answers that boiled down to the same sentiment every time.

“Don’t worry of such things yet. The world I came from is one of grief, and not one either of you two need to see right now. Yours is of peace. Cherish that.”

At first, neither of them understood it, but they were at a point they both at least tried. They started recognizing that Ryoma’s eyes dulling in vibrancy and the heavy, dark circles under them weren’t entirely normal, especially as their caretakers either lacked similar signs entirely or didn’t have them nearly as pronounced as Ryoma did. He was prepared for the typical long marathon of ‘why’s of both of them trying to pry what they could in the only way they knew how, but while Ryoma was patient, he also still didn’t budge from his point no matter what.

He wanted to keep that much to Marx and Kiran. He couldn’t spare them from losing a parent like he did, but he at least vowed to the two he would never abuse them nor allow anyone else to bully them otherwise. They deserved a proper childhood no matter the challenge it posed to give them such.

But… there were always people who would try to force Ryoma to break that promise in some form or fashion. They just couldn’t leave things be and butt out. _ That _ would’ve been too easy.

  
  


He got careless. The caretakers panicked, but Ryoma left the Deeprealm with a pounding headache and overwhelming dread that distracted him too much to notice until he had already stepped away. He didn’t take long to run into some Nestran asshole who kept convincing himself time and again that Ryoma could be swayed with fancy jewels and grand shows of money. It would never fail to piss him off just as much to imply any of the Nohrian royals could be just as easy to sway. 

“I don’t recall asking for your input of what I do in regards to Siegbert’s birthright.”

“Spoken like quite the Hoshidan through and through, I see. So _ that’s _what Nohr’s future has in store for it, is it not? For the Hoshidan king to quietly merge Nohr into Hoshido, sweep it under its rug, and complete its full conquest, is it not?”

“We have discussed this so many times before. I shouldn’t have to defend my choices every single goddamn time Nohr comes into discussion. I have the interest of both nations in mind, and I will not have you try to twist my intentions otherwise!”

“Hmph. Perhaps you wouldn’t have to have such a burden on your shoulders if you’ve simply tried harder to protect our king. A fine nobleman was right in your mercy, and you passed his life over for the pup you keep tucked away somewhere. Truly, Nohr is in _ good hands _, I’m sure…”

He was already not in the best mood as it were. He was in even less of a mood to put up with this shit anymore.

_ “Say that again.” _

And from how quickly this pompous asshole jumped at the sudden, sharp growl in Ryoma’s voice, he realized he pushed the king too far. The more Ryoma stepped forward, the more he was aware how big, tall, and powerful the king still proved even after all his sorrow and pain. He was even more aware of the look in his eyes that were a razor’s edge away between self-restraint and a complete psychotic break.

_ “Look me in the eye, _ ** _right now,_ ** _ and say that again. _ ** _I fucking dare you._ ** _ ” _

Suddenly, for someone who kept throwing stones at the king, he cowered under Ryoma’s intense aura when he was heavily reminded the house he stood in was made of cracked glass. He wouldn’t stand to let anyone try to pin Siegbert with the death of Marx, and he was already granting a generous amount of mercy not to strike the nobleman down where he stood, knowing he was ill-equipped to pick a legitimate fight with the king.

“That’s what I thought. Get the hell out of my sight.”

“Hmph… Y-you know, Xander would’ve-”

_ “Did I stutter?” _

Ryoma only backed down when he suddenly heard someone break down and cry. His attention shifted just enough from the fleeing Nestran nobleman to look to the source, only to blink in alarm at who he saw.

“S-stop crying! Papa’s gonna catch us!”

Despite Shiro’s efforts, Siegbert broke down and cried harder, especially when he looked to Ryoma just in time to see a far scarier side to him he tried so hard up to then to hide from both of them. He was scared, he was overwhelmed with guilt and shame, and even Shiro started shaking and cowering as Ryoma moved closer. It took a moment of Ryoma lowering himself to their eye level and heavily softening his demeanor to the familiar gentleness they knew to ease, and even then, both of his sons were too scared of him to let their guards down completely.

“Why did you two leave…?” He reached his hand out to them, prepared to take the two back home. “Come now, you two need to go-”

_ “NO!” _

Despite Ryoma’s efforts, the words earlier stung too hard for Siegbert to handle. He slapped Ryoma’s hand hard (or at least, as hard as a child like him could), taking in the nobleman’s words too close to heart. He was too upset at letting the nobleman worm his way into his head that he essentially killed his father, and it was all it took to convince himself Ryoma hated him all along for it and that hatred fueled his earlier outbursts.

“I-I’m sorry…! I’m sorry…!” And at the same time, he was also so overly strict with himself. He realized he struck Ryoma, even if Ryoma barely was hurt by the gesture so much as the meaning behind it. He overwhelmed himself more that Marx would’ve hated him too for striking the only parent they had left, and he broke down, apologizing over and over until his voice croaked.

“It’s not your fault. There is nothing to apologize for… Let’s go home…” There was little else to be said of it. His heart ached of how much he was reminded of Kiran before Kiran opened up to him little by little, even if his walls came from his experience as a child. It pained Ryoma that, despite his best efforts, it seemed the shadow of Kiran’s anxieties still plagued one of his sons. But he couldn’t (and shouldn’t) blame Siegbert. All he could do was hold both his sons close, but fuss over Siegbert especially, letting him cry into his chest while Shiro remained timid, but otherwise more guilt-ridden to go behind their father’s back than upset. He picked Siegbert up outright when the child eventually calmed down, but was too burnt out anymore to want to walk. By comparison, he took Shiro’s hand when he proved much more able and willing to walk, just still timid of watching Ryoma’s face and trying clumsily to read his moods. 

There was no anger for them. There was no hatred or bitterness for them. If he resented anyone, it was himself. He guided them back to the Deeprealms, but took a little longer this time to linger there with them. He did what he could to prove to Shiro his mood, vicious as it could’ve been for the adults, didn’t reflect on them. It was just enough for Siegbert to trust him again and slump against his chest, finding everything calming from Ryoma's heartbeat to his scent.

"...Papa… do you hate us…? Do you hate me?"

"No." He nuzzled him and patiently held him. There wasn't any hesitance in his answer. 

"But if Father-"

"He never would've forgiven me if I chose any other way… He would've done the same had our roles reversed. He and your dad would've loved both of you just as much."

He still hesitated. He wanted to believe Ryoma, but there was still that familiar uncertainty to him that lingered. 

"You both saw for yourselves now why I hesitated to let the two of you come to my world too soon. One day, you both will be old enough and better equipped for it, but for now, let me protect you two just a little longer."

"Papa…"

He brought out his wings. By then, the two recognized it was a sign of Ryoma settling with them for the day. Shiro snuck his way underneath them while Siegbert tucked himself up more against Ryoma. He kept them warm, kept them close, and protected them. The reasons why he still lived.

* * *

He continued to watch Siegbert and Shiro grow bigger and stronger every visit, even when he himself seemed weaker, paler, and his exhaustion was catching up to him. They were skilled and mature enough for Ryoma to finally trust them to take up the weapons Ryoma kept hidden away for so long. It left him equally flustered yet proud at the same time that Shiro didn't take up Raijinto, but still took up a naginata, Yari, that was originally Kiran's. With Siegbert, it was much more straightforward to give Siegfried to him. He gave them Breidablik as well, albeit with Breidablik, the weapon was gifted to them with a different intention in mind.

He told them before of Kiran's connections with the gun. He told them of the feats he performed and his duties he used to fulfill to the Order of Heroes. He told him things throughout their childhood up to now in snippets of how they all met. He didn't give Breidablik to them as a weapon to defend themselves with like Siegfried or Yari. He didn't even know if it would resonate with either of them the same way or not like his or Marx's weapons could pass from king to king. By then, he had long since given up trying to test it or think to pressure the two, especially when there was no guarantee the Kiran or Xander that Breidablik could call upon were the same ones he fell in love with. But… it felt better to pass the gun down to them, too.

He smiled warmly to them at how well they both took to taking their weapons. It was a rare warmth he hadn't shown in some time, so it was easy to think he was simply so proud to see the two grow up as they had to brighten just a bit more at the occasion.

They didn't need to know otherwise. Ryoma was careful of such. He kept the skin of his neck completely covered, and neither of his sons suspected anything off about it. He felt a painful ache at his neck as the mark Kiran left on him so long ago was returning, but in fragments.

He had to investigate, but before doing so, he wanted to do what he could to prepare his sons. He wanted to protect them one last time, even if it was in the form of giving them the tools necessary to protect themselves and each other. 

Trying to leave once more, he framed it as him simply going back to Nohr as usual. As Shiro was bursting with energy of inheriting Yari, and sharing Breidablik, Siegbert hesitated and suspected something more behind the decision to give him Siegfried.

Ryoma could smell someone lingering near. It was the unique bonfire scent he thought he would never catch again, but he kept Raijinto close in arming himself. He wouldn't let his nostalgia or grief blind him.

Recognizing that Ryoma could smell his location, he gave up hiding and appeared from the shadows. It was someone whose body was almost entirely reduced to bones, but the skeleton was encased in a body that glowed with white, bio-luminescent plasma that formed his body's normal shape otherwise. The only part unaffected of him was his lower face, as he otherwise obscured his eyes with a mask forced on his upper face, and what bits of black, sharp armor he haphazardly wore.

Between the dull remains of his scent, or what Ryoma recognized in looking past his mask, he knew right away that it was Kiran. His hair might've been ripped or shredded otherwise in having been forcibly cut short, and what little skin he retained was sickeningly pale and corpse-like, but he could recognize one of his husbands no matter how horrifically mutilated his form was now.

"Kiran… I'm so sorry." He shifted his position, resolved in what he needed to do. "It'll be over soon. I promise."

* * *

He kept his word. He didn't anticipate how long it would've taken, but he did it.

Kiran was relatively easy to strike down. The problem was he wouldn't _ stay _ down. Ryoma hardened his heart for the fight in attacking him and killing him, but he would rise up not long after, and looked even less human in his gait and fighting style every time he did it. He started with a fight that was painfully familiar to Ryoma of all the skills he taught to the former summoner, only for his skills to deteriorate and lose his personality in his attacks in favor of a more mechanical feel. It soon felt to him like Ryoma was fighting a puppet who was forced to keep rising on his feet long after the body lost his original will.

He couldn't stand it anymore, and he knew that as painful as it was, he had to completely destroy Kiran to give his soul the chance to rest. 

So Ryoma fully transformed into his dragon form and lunged. He tried to distance his feelings enough to turn feral and tear Kiran apart, starting from the side of his neck where Ryoma's mark would've been, and working to tear off limbs and shred the severed parts. Eventually, Kiran's body gave out, and the curse that took hold on him broke its hold and allowed his form to wither away.

_ "Papa!" _

_ "Shiro! Help me!" _

But he couldn't kill Kiran without incident. It was a risk he knew he had to take to free Kiran's soul. The first few times Kiran rose again from the dead, Ryoma unfortunately let his guard down to his sudden attacks. The adrenaline in his veins and the resolve to put Kiran out of his misery were enough to see him through in battle, and he willed himself to come home to Siegbert and Shiro.

But they were both horrified at just how bloody Ryoma was, and they both panicked trying to save him. It was enough to keep him alive just a bit longer, but he was tired for so long, and stretched his will to live far too thin. 

What kind of life was he leaving them? Ever since Siegbert was born, Nohr's politicians seemed to have his whole life plan set for him well before even Ryoma did. And what of Shiro? He would take to a throne full of servants who already had it in them to kill one of his fathers so callously. Ryoma had to put up with so much of their scorn and disrespect that he didn't doubt those people would've danced all over his grave, cheering for the opportunity to groom Siegbert into someone who would turn on his own brother and send both countries into war all over again.

There was nothing left for them here. There was a future neither of them deserved that was awaiting them just outside of their Deeprealm. 

"Please… Kiran… Help me one last time… Save our sons… give them a future better than this, I beg you…"

For one more time, he stayed stubborn to will himself to live just a little longer. It was a faint hope, but it was all he could think to do.

He gave them the orbs he retrieved from Kiran so long ago. He urged them with memories of how Kiran would specifically use Breidablik to not just attack, but to access other worlds. 

For once in a long time, Breidablik resonated with a master yet again. It was just as it did for Kiran.

"Take Raijinto... Pack everything you need in your convoys… Don't hesitate… There is nothing else for you here. This wasn't what your other fathers would've wanted either…"

"Papa… What about you?"

"I'll be fine… As long as you two are somewhere safe, I'll be ok... But I'm counting on you both to protect each other…”

“Pops… Is there really nothing we can do? Did we screw up…?” 

“No… I hid so much from the two of you, but… it’s better for me this way… I’ve had scars that I kept for far too long… Scars that vulneraries alone can’t heal… Pack what you can… Go where Breidablik takes you… And if you see your fathers, tell them I’m sorry…”

Maybe the stress from carrying the weight of the world finally caught up to him and dulled his reflexes and battle skill. Maybe he allowed Kiran to get the upper hand, just to make his guilt easier to excuse. If any case, it didn’t change anything. 

He slumped against a wall, staying back as he watched Siegbert and Shiro scatter from one another to retrieve anything remotely meaningful and sentimental to them, then regroup together in front of him. His vision started to blur, and his eyes felt heavier as an overwhelming urge to sleep took over him. 

“Shiro, do we have everything?”

“Yeah. I checked every nook and cranny.”

Siegbert hesitated. They would abandon the only life they knew. From the way Ryoma worded it, this world would be completely lost to them after they step through. They barely experienced Ryoma’s world as it were, and now they had to put that and their Deeprealms behind them. And what would Kiran and Marx think of them? What would the Ryoma there think of them when he didn’t hold the obvious bias as the only father they personally knew? 

He looked back to Ryoma with a pained expression on his face. Whether or not they went onward, they would lose their father while doing so. It took Shiro to reach over and pat his back, then redirect his attention forward. With a single shot from Breidablik, a portal opened to them, one that showed a tree carved in an obelisk, set on a plateau of runes with little deviance from the clouds and sky surrounding it.

The last thing Ryoma saw was Shiro gently leading his older brother. At first, he had to press his hand against his back to guide him with him into the portal, but as the eldest, Siegbert eventually resolved to take the lead and hold Shiro’s hand to get him to follow.

So tired… It’s been so long since he had rest… He could barely feel the throb of his wounds or the chill of the air in the room anymore as he drifted off and let darkness take him.

* * *

With a flash of light, Kiran watched for what heroes would’ve appeared. However, it struck him as unusual how the light seemed bigger and flushed with a much stronger pulse today. He didn’t really have any clear goal in mind of who to call upon or what to aim for, but rather, he had pent up energy he needed to flush anyways, and he didn’t want it to go to waste to simply brush it off.

When the light faded, he blinked in surprise of several things he noticed right away of the hero he called upon… or in this case, _ heroes _, rather. He didn’t quite expect for there to be a pair from a single summoning orb.

Besides him taking pause of how there were two heroes for the price of one, he was initially stunned of how they looked, and somewhat embarrassed of how quickly he caught on to their scent as well, of all things. One was much taller and robust compared to the other, and with the way he was dressed in combination with his scruffy brunette hair or how smoky his eye color was, he was immediately reminded of Ryoma. The shorter one had a thinner frame that he much more heavily obscured under layers of cloth and black armor Kiran thought seemed similar to Marx’s Nohrian armor, and he had a similar shade of blonde hair and similarly striking red eyes to match. As much as Kiran felt flustered how he’s been more sensitive about scents more often lately, and felt embarrassed of catching the scent of complete strangers, the brunette smelled like a fruit-based incense to him, while the blonde was sweeter in tone and made him think of tiramisu.

The second thing he noticed was the brunette pointed a weapon at him, not necessarily upon seeing him, but Kiran could tell it was what he did moments before arriving here. To his surprise, the weapon looked nigh identical to Breidablik, except where Kiran’s own weapon held a white body and golden accents, their Breidablik’s body was pitch black instead.

It was painfully obvious to both parties that their respective Breidabliks stood out the quickest before everything else.

“T-that’s…!” “Wait, is he…?”

“...Um…. hi? Are either of you related to Ryoma and Xander, maybe…?”

Kiran was clueless of what to do. Shiro looked between Siegbert and Kiran in thinking Siegbert was usually the one with more tact for these things. So when Siegbert froze up, it didn’t inspire much confidence of how to break this silence no matter how suffocating.

“...It’s uh… good to see you?” When Siegbert couldn’t find the right words, Shiro tested the waters by greeting Kiran first. As confused as Kiran was of why these two seemed so nervous of him, he smiled brightly to them.

“Oh! You as well! Er… But about your weapon there, where’d you get that? Unless you two are summoners as well?”

“(Shiro, what do we do? We can’t tell him right away, can we?)” Siegbert was hushed enough not to let Kiran hear his exact words, but he didn’t know where (or how) to even begin.

“(Why not? It’s our dad, not like some demon who would bite our heads off. You heard what Papa would say, he’s the most chill of them.)”

“(First impressions are everything, Shiro. And what if Dad isn’t even together with Papa and Father yet? One false step and we could unravel so much…)”

“(Sheesh, you’re overthinking it, Sieg, it’s not gonna be _ that _ bad.)”

“(Please be mindful of Papa’s wishes, Shiro, don’t betray his trust in us…)”

“Um… Should I maybe get help…?”

He had to admit, this was certainly one of the more interesting introductions Kiran had to a hero, let alone a pair like Shiro and Siegbert. They were even more uncomfortable when the two spent more time debating one another than actually speaking to Kiran. Even if Kiran himself was calm, patient, and more confused than bothered, it still fed into Siegbert’s insecurities that they were disrespecting their father. 

Shiro patted his back to try to encourage him.

“(C’mon. I’m right here with you, we can do this together.)”

“(I-I… Oh fine then.) *Ahem* My sincere apologies, we seemed to have gotten rather carried away. We mean no disrespect, we merely...ah…”

Shiro rubbed Siegbert’s back as his brother faltered again. He was getting there, Shiro knew, but he just needed a little nudge to keep up his demeanor in spite of their shared excitement and nervousness. 

Trying to call upon his confidence, Siegbert straightened himself up and then took a bow to honor Kiran.

"It is with great honor and privilege to meet with you, Summoner Kiran. My apologies for our earlier bumbling, but if we may properly introduce ourselves once more…"

"Oh, uh, no problem. None at all." Although he was surprised they seemed to have known his name already. He tried to bow back, but compared to Siegbert, he was a bit hasty and clunky.

"I am Prince Siegbert. As a future king, I swear that I shall do all I can to prove my worth to you."

"I'm Shiro, his lil bro I guess. Nice to finally see you in person an' all, Dad."

"Oh! Nice to meet you too, Seigbert, Shir-what."

_ "Shiro." _

As much as Siegbert wanted to sink into the floor right then at Kiran's clear confusion, Shiro had little shame in just coming out with it with a bright, cheerful grin. He wasn't nearly as easy to give up no matter how confused Kiran was of what he just heard.

Then again, the more he looked at them, especially with all the other signs like their scents and their own Breidablik, should he really be that surprised?

"...Uh… Dad? Cat got your tongue?"

"Shiro, please…" They messed up. They messed up big time. That's why Kiran looked so confused and surprised, right? Were their other parents even here either? Were they even together?

"Hey um… Can you both follow me?"

So it left him confused when Kiran took another approach. He didn't make it any easier to tell where Kiran's thoughts were, but it was better to follow him than to stay out here.

They did take one last glance back to the tree carving, but by then their connection to their Deeprealm was completely gone. Shiro wrapped his arm over Siegbert's shoulder and tilted his head in such a way as to prompt him to keep following Kiran now.

* * *

"Feeeey~ Xander, look! There's a special delivery for you! Did I do good~?"

"Yes, you did. Thank you Feh."

Marx stood beside the perch just as Feh arrived with a few scrolls in one talon and a gift she gripped in the other. As always, Marx was encouraging of Feh in petting her and carefully taking the contents of the giftbox out while preparing it for her to take on her next flight. Soren was with him, but where Marx took a bit more effort in fussing over Feh first, Soren went straight to looking at her latest news to plan out what to do next.

Despite neither of them looking up from their respective notes, both of them could hear the hasty steps of Kiran rushing in on them, and Marx caught his scent.

"Soreeeen-"

"Who or what did you piss off this time?" Maybe he was rather blunt, but it was a good a guess as any of what to expect from Kiran now. 

"Soren, please…" He also ignored how at least Marx had more sympathy to hear Kiran out, and with Feh fluttering to perch on his shoulder, he turned to focus on Kiran when Soren simply flipped between different notes and ignored him.

The first thing he noticed was how Kiran seemed fine, but he seemed to almost vibrate a little in his steps. There was an anxiousness to him he knew wasn't pure fear, but something happened.

Then he looked past him and froze in confusion. Like Kiran, he quickly noticed the resemblances as well, even if they were much more discreet now about their own Breidablik this time.

"T-two of them..!"

"Two of…? Erm… Kiran, who are these two?"

They both watched him carefully, but there was something in their eyes Marx couldn't help but think of his siblings to see it, especially his younger ones. While Shiro was impressed already of seeing Marx, Siegbert's reaction went a little further.

This was King Xander of Nohr. _ This _ was who he was supposed to be the successor of. The closer he got, the more Siegbert became aware how tall and imposing he was. Despite that, he truly did look like what he thought befitted a king.

“A-ah y-yes…!” Yet again, he bowed, but compared to Kiran, Siegbert’s bow to Marx was hasty, and his nervousness was a little too obvious this time. “I’m… I am prince Siegbert. I’m-”

“Your son.” This time, it was Kiran who rushed straight to the point. Siegbert wondered if that’s where Shiro got it from after all.

“...What.”

“And they have a summoner gun too!”

“There’s two Breidabliks now?”

It left Shiro and Siegbert even more stunned how everything seemed to fall in place. Was this just Kiran’s talent at work? Just behind them was Alfonse, and he just so happened to lead Ryoma to him. 

“Yeah! They have a weapon like Breidablik with them, but theirs is black for some reason. Can summoners summon other summoners?”

“Er… well... “ On one hand, it was how Anna brought him to them at all, but on the otherhand, Alfonse couldn’t help but feel Shiro and Siegbert were a much more complicated case than that. While it took little time for Kiran and Alfonse to move closer and try to debate the how’s and why’s while Kiran shared what he saw and knew to compare, their discussion became little else but background noise compared to seeing this world’s Ryoma.

He looked so much more relaxed. Maybe he was pale at the moment in trying to keep his morning sickness in check, but there was no longer the heavily dark circles in his eyes, and his eyes actually had some vibrancy in them this time. His posture was straighter, and he looked genuinely calm rather than how their Ryoma merely pretended to be.

He was also stunned the longer he stared at the two. Like his lovers, he picked up on the clues and hints, but it left him baffled of what to think, especially the conclusions that quickly came to mind.

“Erm… Ryoma…” Marx hesitated. He could see it in Ryoma’s expression he picked up much of what he noticed too, but even he wasn’t sure what to think of Kiran’s blunt confirmation.

“...You two seem rather…” He shook his head. No, surely he was getting ahead of himself.

“...Pops… Y-you look so…” 

“Pardon? Do we know each other..?”

It was hard to be sure what they were supposed to feel of it. For all the changes, Shiro and Siegbert both realized the full extent of what their Ryoma meant when he said he bore wounds he hid for years. It brought them joy to see this side to Ryoma, but it renewed their grief when it sank in just how much their father suffered in silence for their sakes. By then, Siegbert trembled in place, unable to form the right words to say, much less try one more time to formally introduce them. He was too overwhelmed with the same conclusion Shiro realized, but he felt even more grief the deeper he thought of it all.

“Ryoma, according to Kiran, these two are-”

“I-I’m sorry… I can’t do this anymore…”

“Seigbert?”

He couldn’t keep up his appearances. Not for this. Nothing clicked right. The words didn’t form well. He couldn’t get just the right steps to match just the right pace, and his voice cracked before he could stop it. 

He approached Ryoma. At first, the samurai hesitated having a stranger randomly get closer to him, but then the scent got to him, among other things. The first to rush up to him was Siegbert, but Shiro hesitantly approached soon after as well.

"Papa… I-I'm sorry…"

"Ryoma, Kiran said they're our sons…" Marx tried to ease Ryoma into it, but as confused as he was, and as hesitant as his motions were, he did give them a moment while simply hugging them and keeping them close.


	5. Picking up the Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After they were taken to a new world with a new lease on life, Shiro and Siegbert both try their best to fill in and adjust to a world full of the family and friends they were never able to meet while growing up. But perhaps not everything about what happened in the doomed world they left was entirely lost. A valuable tool is in their hands, but the vital records it holds are littered with Kiran’s woes and muddled thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! For post updates, questions, art and general random silliness in between, check me out at eriisaam.tumblr.com for more!

"...So… Ah…"

"Y-yes Fath- erm… Lord Xander…?"

"Oh, you… I didn't mean you couldn't… that is, you…"

"...*ahem*..."

"...Ryoma, surely you have more than that to say."

"Well I mean… they're here. But uh…"

They felt it best that, rather than let these unexpected affairs be aired out for all to hear, they all retreated into a more private room to talk things over between the princes, their fathers, and the Askran prince and princess. 

It was easily confirmed that Siegbert and Shiro were indeed Marx's, Ryoma's and Kiran's sons. Between their looks, their scents, and the coincidence being too on-the-nose to be just such that they happen to have a duplicate Siegfried, Raijinto  _ and _ Breidablik between them, it was at least safe enough to entertain the idea that these two young men were their sons. The only inconsistency was Yari, who certainly gave Ryoma pause, but didn’t inspire any immediate recognition like the other three legendary weapons, least of all from Kiran. As much as it also surprised the Askr siblings, it surprised Kiran even moreso when the shock came more from the news Marx and Ryoma were expecting at all than to stop and question the feasibility of it, and neither pressed the news further beyond quick congratulations Ryoma and Marx happily took in.

However, even with that out of the way, several questions came to mind, the most critical of all being why the older versions of their kids were here, and where they came from.

At least nobody questioned the how. They had their own version of Breidablik just as Kiran had his. It did bring up questions of why theirs was black and gold with a subtle coat of frost lining it in spite of the warmth of the fortress, especially when it was supposedly the same Breidablik as Kiran's despite his own being white, gold, and frost-free. But it didn't take much to guess that both Breidabliks resonated with one another and opened a gate similar to what Anna inadvertently made to call Kiran.

It didn't help that, as patient as Ryoma was to hold Siegbert and Shiro close earlier and gave them a moment, now the two turned incredibly shy right after. Shiro may have had better composure, even if by virtue of being more thrilled than intimidated of his parents, but Siegbert was a different story. Shiro seemed to keep himself reined in and composed moreso for Siegbert's sake, but Siegbert - in spite of his clear efforts to try to appear calm and proper - was anxious and self-conscious. He crippled himself in ways Marx, Ryoma and the Askr siblings recognized from how Kiran used to be far quicker than Kiran himself noticed, particularly when Siegbert drowned in his anxieties as he felt as if he already made himself out to be quite the fool for how he treated Ryoma a moment ago. To say nothing of the two fathers he and Shiro never got to meet until now. What kind of impression did he already make for them? He already dreaded the answer...

It also didn't help how their dads also seemed equally shy and at a loss for words.

"...Erm… It's really good to meet you two~!" Of the three, Kiran tried to put his best foot forward when everyone else had their reservations. "And uh… it's cool to see how you two grew up so big and strong!" That seemed like a 'dad' enough thing to start with, right? Especially when Marx and Ryoma were torn on where to begin.

"...Yeah. That's um…"

"R-right… it's a… yes…"

But unfortunately, rather than help, he felt like he struck a nerve instead. He did notice Shiro and Siegbert at least try to make the effort to see the positive side to what Kiran said, but it was still a painful memory how their Ryoma didn't keep it secret that Kiran wasn't even around to see their birth, much less growing up.

"...Perhaps we could discuss more of that later, then… in private…" 

They all realized easily enough that something happened in the world they came from, and it wasn't just with Ryoma. While Kiran felt guilt to touch such a painful subject, Marx tried to navigate away from it further, knowing such a subject was best reserved when they didn’t have duties to fulfil and an audience outside of just them.

"...Uuh… Rooms!" It was up to Sharena to pick up the mood while everyone else remained at a loss. "You're both gonna need a place to stay, right? We can settle the two of you near your parents~"

"Oh, ah… that would be thoroughly appreciated, but how shall we repay you in exchange?" Leave it to Siegbert to worry and fret over such things. It didn't matter how close Sharena was to their parents, he still felt almost honor-bound. But as much as Sharena and Alfonse were touched of Siegbert trying his best not to take advantage of them, the untold amount of deeds their parents already did in service to Askr did more than enough to pay their dues in advance.

"Pffsh, think nothing of it. Now come with me, will you? We can at least get you two settled down~ Being summoned takes a bit out of a hero, so it can help gather your bearings~"

"Y-you really…"

"Hm~?"

"Ah, I- *ahem* That is, what I meant to say is you are truly kind, Lady Sharena. Immensely so. Your kindness is truly as our father described you."

"Ah~? Awww, you're making me blush~" She also felt a little more regal having been called  _ Lady _ Sharena, but with how overly formal Siegbert was since he got here, she embraced it, even if she felt bad to regard her so highly over something so small. Alfonse cleared his throat, trying to help her ease Siegbert's clear tension more.

"Yes, well, it's best not to keep the two of you. Think nothing more of repaying us, it is more to say the deeds your fathers did for us were far more than we could ever repay."

"If you are certain, Lord Alfonse, but even so, please, do not hesitate to ask either of us if there is more we could do. I wish to prove myself by my own merits as well, not merely ride the coattails of my fathers. No doubt Shiro feels the same." 

Proving it wasn't just Sharena he thought highly of, he spoke to Alfonse with the same tone and regard as his sister. As highly respectable as Marx was, even Marx had his casual moments, and his formalities weren’t so consistently stressed.

"Yeah, sure, what he said."

By contrast, Shiro was about as curt as Kiran. He spoke respectfully enough in his tone to show he appreciated it all just as well, but he was nowhere near as graceful in his choice of words. 

"Heehee, great! Follow me then~"

As much as Sharena was all too eager to help the two, especially with the preface they were the sons of her close friends, there was still some reservations compared to how quickly Sharena herself jumped to the task. As if Shiro's uncertain glances among his fathers didn't say enough, Siegbert's anxieties trickling into his words all but confirmed it.

"Ah, our sincerest apologies for intruding on you all. No doubt, we clearly are disrupting all your scheduled plans for us to arrive as we had. But… If either of us may be permitted to some slight selfishness, Shiro and I… we ah…"

There were all kinds of faces Siegbert was vaguely aware the Order of Heroes were making toward him, but he hesitated to trust whether they were truly looks of concern, or were looks of muted scorn instead. His voice weakened and trailed off before he could bring himself to ask.

“If this is about becoming better acquainted with one another, then of course. And we will have plenty of moments to do so.”

But in recognizing the signs whenever Kiran would've started to lose his nerves, it was easy enough for Marx to see them in Siegbert as well and catch him where his confidence fell. Immediately, Siegbert’s and Shiro’s eyes lit up, even if only Siegbert deflated again and hastily tried to hide his excitement.

“But,” and Marx hesitated to say such after such a preface, “perhaps it’s better for the two of you to spend that time with Ryoma or Kiran, rather than me. At least for now. I'm sure between the two of them, you can find something far more engaging than to have me hold either of you back while I sort through paperwork."

"Again? I thought you said you were going to trust Leo with whatever comes next, come what may.” 

But no matter the concern on his face, or how much he prodded Marx otherwise, Marx still shied away from Ryoma’s concerns.

“Yes, but, while I have much of the reports on hand, I may as well finish them.”

“The reports you took from Leo, you mean? The same reports you said you were going to  _ give _ to Leo even?”

“Come now, Ryoma, it is only a small bit of work. Hardly worth the footwork to hand over to him, even. I can finish it.”

“Perhaps we have different definitions of “small” if you were referring to those stacks of papers at your desk. Besides, it’s not one you should be taking when you’ve been sick much more often recently.”

“But Leo and Camilla have their own responsibilities. I’m simply minimalizing how much more I add to their plate.”

“Camilla, Leo and Hinoka were the ones who offered, remember?  _ Because _ you weren’t feeling well. That’s the entire point, Marx.”

“Erm, I don’t mind hanging out with the two of you…” As much as Kiran agreed with Ryoma’s points, he hesitated to get between them. Instead, he tried to redirect focus on him while he could vaguely hear even more evidence it was one of  _ those _ debates when Ryoma and Marx continued on and ignored him. Between an “I just wanted to be sure I’m doing enough on my part!”, and “You can do your part just fine relaxing and trusting your siblings more!”, Alfonse and Sharena were also a little too used to the banter and tried to ignore them likewise as Ryoma continued to try to urge Marx to relax more.

“Ah, don’t you have tactic drills you still need to do today, Kiran?” 

“Yeah, but, would Commander Anna really mind?”

“I suppose not, but there  _ is _ the matter of Soren as well. Surely, he wouldn’t be happy of you skipping your lessons again.”

“Heh~ Yeah, well, if you two are interested, why don’t you join us after? It’s thanks to Alfonse that Anna kept those lessons for free.”

“Hmhm~ Well, it  _ was _ of vital importance that even Anna is surely aware of. It wouldn’t do to leave you completely without some form of tutoring or another if you were to be our tactician. And if she decides such an excuse isn’t good enough to extend to you two, I’m sure I could find a few  _ other _ strings to pull to keep convincing her.”

As much as Shiro was content enough that even one of their fathers were willing to hang out with them, Siegbert’s eyes lit up a little at the offer itself. For as much as their own Ryoma tried his best to teach them what he knew, Siegbert unfortunately knew that Ryoma’s strong suits were in how flexible he was to adapt to different weapons. Even so, there were only so many weapons Ryoma could teach, of which the sword and the lance he knew best, and he wasn’t quite as well-versed enough in tactical skill to pass it to them as well as he hoped. It was a subject that fascinated Siegbert, yet knew well enough not to hold it against Ryoma on how limited he was to better grasp it. And yet, the offer was right here, moreso in the hands of their extended family.

“You truly do not mind? Such lessons would be invaluable indeed.” And as concerning as he found it of how much Ryoma and Marx seemed to be debating with one another, even in something so small, he was delighted of the thought of joining Kiran in the tactic drills.

“Speaking of, do you do any other kind of training, Dad? Like, different weapon types, maybe? Or really tough people to spar with?”

He was happy that Siegbert was happy. Given how much he grew up seeing Siegbert more in varying levels of guarded than to let his guard down even to show how really, truly overjoyed he was, Shiro kept it to himself just enough not to dismiss such tactic drills completely more for his brother’s sake, even if he himself couldn’t exactly bring himself to be just as genuinely eager of it. At best, he was about half as excited, and if anything, he was also distracted moreso with the bickering of his other two fathers. It wasn’t like he enjoyed seeing the two try to get on each other’s nerves on purpose, but where Siegbert seemed excited to study with Kiran, he not only softened more of seeing more sides to Ryoma they couldn’t see before, but was also much more interested to meet the rest of the family and spar with them.

“Not much for tactic drills either, huh? I’m sure Ike can help with that part~ He doesn’t really mind it when any of us do practice bouts with him, so I’m sure he’d gladly spar with you too, Shiro~”

At least Sharena was just as quick to catch on in her offers, and with it, Alfonse followed through.

“As for different weapons to spar with, perhaps there’s your aunts and uncles? They are quite impressive in the sheer variety of weapons between them all.”

“Oh! Good point.” But as much as Kiran had little trouble asking favors from them at times as he got closer to his lovers, he knew that it was even easier for Ryoma or Marx to bridge that gap over him. Just as he could hear the two continue on, albeit winding down to a point both seemed to be teasing one another, he knew  _ that _ was the best point to intervene.

“Haa, any more of that and Elise will punish you, you know, especially with your child in mind.”

“Hah! And you are to tattle on me to her? Is  _ that _ your plan of how to break the news to them all of them?”

“And maybe I will if you keep-”

At Kiran’s whistling, both of them dropped their thoughts and perked, looking his way. It was then the two realized, with some embarrassment, that they both got carried away again and completely ignored the rest of the room up until then. 

“Could you ask your sisters and brothers if it’s ok for Shiro to train with them?”

“Hm? Ah, right, of course.” Out of reflex, Ryoma was the quickest to volunteer out of the two, but as he cleared his throat, he and Marx both tried to compose themselves once more. “Perhaps we can propose the idea while sharing the news. There’s ah… admittedly, quite a bit to brief them on about all this, hm…”

With a sigh, Marx nodded. “Indeed....”

“Perhaps for now, we’ll get you two settled in your rooms while the rest of you have time to prepare.” In trying to relieve some of their burdens, Alfonse intervened. “When the two of you are ready, I’ll lead you both to our tactics room.”

And with that, they all thankfully had a plan, clumsy as it may be. Marx left it entirely in Ryoma’s and Kiran’s hands, but knew that he would have to make it up to them after his paperwork was finished. Ryoma focused on trying to find his and Marx’s siblings and try to arrange plans for all of them to meet up much later on. Kiran also left to prepare for his drills, all with a quick, cheerful promise to meet with everyone else there later. 

Which left it all down to Sharena as Alfonse scouted ahead. Already, she proved welcoming, warm and cheerful at the thought of making new friends, particularly the sons of her existing friends. But no matter how much she tried to help distract their minds, and no matter Siegbert's interest to share his own thoughts of the Order of Heroes likewise, his mind was far too clouded over what immediately led them here. It became harder to focus on Sharena's exact words, and harder still to take in his surroundings beyond staying alert enough to follow her lead.

They were all so kind and welcoming. It all felt like coming home to family again, and better yet, the family they never knew before. They were all so quick to adapt and accept them like their very existence was such a normal, almost expected occurrence. Even Shiro seemed to be taking things as they come and still adapting to whatever came by with a similar relaxed air to him.

But… was this  _ really _ ok? It was easy enough to slip into the whole act, be selfish, and pretend away everything that led them up to here, but would that betray their fathers of their own time to do so? He knew from Ryoma's last words this was exactly what he hoped for them, but his heart ached, knowing they still lost him and their family just to get here.

"...Are we being selfish?" He muttered out before he could help himself. Siegbert was vaguely aware someone held his shoulder, and with a not-so-gentle nudge or so, he looked up to notice he was standing into a dormitory he mindlessly walked into with Shiro gripping his shoulder.

"Is that what's been on your mind?" Shiro stopped shaking his brother, but still held him. 

"This all feels so… Are we doing something wrong by doing this? Am I being ungrateful to question this?"

"Sieg…" He pulled Siegbert into a hug. For being his older brother, Siegbert felt so small, not just for the direction his mind trailed off in, but how much taller Shiro was compared to him. There was initially a bit of resistance, but he eased into the hug quickly enough. "You're overthinking it again."

He hesitated to respond. Even if Shiro was right, was he necessarily wrong to do so? He could feel Shiro's hand pat him roughly on his back. 

"I know. It's a lot to take in, and Papa… well…" He shook his head before he could finish that thought. What good will it do to soothe Siegbert with a thought that still stung for him, too? "He would've wanted what's best for us. It's what he kept telling us growing up. Maybe it  _ is _ a bit selfish, but is it really so bad in this case?"

Siegbert didn't have an answer. The feeling became worse of it when he knew, as the older brother, he should be the one to know better. Shiro disengaged, but Siegbert still stood in place with his lingering doubts. 

"And we came at the right time, too. If we're gonna change things, we can at least do it for the better, right?" Shiro grinned in his growing confidence. "Maybe it isn't much in the grand scheme of things, but we can at least give Pops the life he didn't have before. We can help all of them this time."

Initially, Siegbert was about to protest. No matter what they did, it didn't erase the fact their family were still wiped out once before. It didn't fully erase the fact their father died to protect them even with a living version of him here. That fact would never fade no matter what.

But he didn't voice his thoughts. He relented and, although reluctant, he nodded in agreement. Even if it was too late to change anything about the family they left behind, he couldn't fully dismiss the wellbeing of this world's iteration of them either. With it being painfully clear to him their parents were already together, and even the versions of them were coming along the way, he was glad their love seemed to still stay strong even across different timelines, but he also knew this Ryoma had no clue of the kind of pain and grief that could potentially await him… unless he told him, that is. (And he knew that, no matter how painful a subject, Siegbert still owed it to him to tell him.) He still agreed enough with Shiro that he did still want to help avert that fate, no matter what it would mean for Shiro’s or his own.

“That’s my bro!” Even if it was a hesitant one, agreement was still agreement, and it was good enough for Shiro. With a hearty slap, it was hard enough not only to hear from over the doorway, but made Siegbert jump a little. He knew enough, however, it was just Shiro not realizing his own strength when a little too energized, and didn’t hold it against him. “Let’s do our best!”

“Y… yes. Right.”

“Are the two of you alright?” 

With such an audible smack, Alfonse peeked his head back into the room. He was relieved that the two seemed to be in decent spirits, Shiro moreso between the two, but he still couldn’t help but share his concerns despite no immediate sign of anything amiss.

“Ah, yes. We are." As they were caught, both of them kept a bit of distance from one another. "These dormitories are more than we could ever ask for. But perhaps, outside of a few things, perhaps we could wait to unpack in full at a later time."

"Ah, if you are certain. As for the other dormitory, there is another just further down on this side as well. Hopefully, it is distant enough to give you all space, but not enough to separate all of you."

The two hardly spent much time to themselves in this room, but with how hasty Shiro was to retreat, Siegbert relented to Shiro's decision to let him take this dorm for himself while Shiro nodded and followed Alfonse's lead just a little further down. They passed by a door to a dormitory on the other side of the hall, which Sharena was far from shy in confirming it was the door to Kiran's, Marx's and Ryoma's shared dorm. Siegbert didn't follow after them, but he heard bits and pieces of their voices to get enough of a vague idea of such.

Instead, he dug into his convoy. There were so many things in there in varying states of organized. Where he would've normally been fairly neat and tidy since being taught to use it, there were clutter in there that made it painfully obvious where he started shoving things in his haste to leave the Deeprealms. He wanted to organize things much more properly, whether or not he had reason yet to unload it into this room, but the sight was still too painful to bring himself to the right mindset to clean it up yet.

He took out a single piece from the pile, however. It was a small, tablet-like object that he could fit comfortably in his hand. He remembered with a heavy heart that he took it from Ryoma's convoy, among other things. He never really understood what it was or its exact purpose, but he remembered pretending to fall asleep so many times only to see Ryoma activate it and look down to its illuminated surface. It would always serve to highlight a look to him he was never sure if Shiro ever saw himself, but in retrospect, that look was always full of so much grief and pain. And yet, for something he always thought had caused such, Ryoma would keep using it and touching the surface as if typing. It occurred to him as he got older that Ryoma was actually using it to vent his existing pain, rather than it being the direct cause.

Maybe he didn't fully understand, but Siegbert was more than willing to try to use it for himself for a similar purpose, especially while Shiro still kept Alfonse and Sharena busy. He pressed a button on its side to turn it on, seeing numbers he didn't understand the purpose of, but also instructions to swipe to unlock it. Siegbert used it in ways more like how he remembered seeing Ryoma would use it than necessarily understanding it, and while he blinked as a white screen littered in text came up, he was briefly distracted when there were suddenly two bars appearing from the top of the screen, one following the other with a few seconds of delay.

Siegbert's heart ached. He only skimmed the text, and already he could tell Ryoma wrote it. He felt waves of panic that made his legs buckle under him the more he read much more carefully, barely taking in the words in themselves, but still understanding enough of it to realize Ryoma knew he likely wouldn't survive his battle, and yet still swore to protect the two of them anyways to the end.

* * *

What would you have done, Kiran? Or you, Marx? Have I done enough? Would either of you have done things differently if you were here?

I feel like every step I make would bring them closer to that same damn mistake we nearly made so long ago. That same path we all swore against… 

What kind of life is this? Our sons would rule Hoshido and Nohr, but is it worth it to set them on a path where the two would surely turn a blade on one another?! The only way this could strengthen the resemblance to our own mistakes would be if Kamui or Corrin somehow returned and tried to get between them again. Dare I even joke? Or even dream? 

No… I know they're gone. All of them. It's even worse for them now than it already was for us. If it weren't for Kiran, even Kamui and Corrin weren't enough for us…

Was I too stubborn again? Was I blind with impulse again? I know it is my failing that I would've left them both with a council of traitors, but… is there really no one else to trust in this world now? They took you from me, Marx. I never should've left you alone... Why did I step away? Why couldn't I have been there with you? I should’ve been far more careful to have been there for both you and Siegbert… If you were still here, maybe you would've paved way to a better Nohr to give to Siegbert than I could…

And now I have you back, Kiran, but… No… Not like this… You shouldn't have to live like that for my selfishness, Kiran. I don't know who did this to you, but this isn't the kind of life you of all people deserve. I won't pretend I know for certain the outcome, but I know what I must do, and I hope you could forgive me.

Both of you… I'm so sorry…

* * *

Siegbert stiffened up on the spot. He tensed up in his attempt not to cry or let his emotions show too obviously on his face. They only just got here, he didn't need to make everyone worry or fuss over him this soon. If any case, he couldn't bring himself to read more than just the tail end of no doubt several logs of what Ryoma wrote, and he tried to distract himself with the odd message banners he initially ignored just so he could ground himself a little better.

Both messages were short and brief, but the first of the two had an insignia to accompany it that Siegbert recognized as a similar emblem to the one he saw on the tapestries hanging along the walls throughout the halls. As he tapped it to unfurl the whole message, he felt flustered of being so clumsy over learning to master the use of this small tablet.

The message was a short, simple "Feeey~! Here is today's full report, Summoner!", but as he clicked on it one too many times, the message disappeared, only to immediately redirect him to a long, full-scale report that he was amazed had came with visuals. Reports of which heroes seem to resonate better in a 'focus', reports of Anna's tactic drills Alfonse referred to, and even reports of other plans he was still confused of the full meaning of were all presented to him right in his hands for him to see and read.

But as much as he was amazed of the potential of this tablet, he also quickly noticed how often the report itself kept referring to Kiran either by name or title. It finally dawned on him after years of confusion and mystery as a child that Ryoma inherited this from Kiran.

It also occurred to him in looking at the report that this entire report written by Feh was all written today. As much as he initially thought Feh was the name of a caretaker he's yet to meet of the owl he saw Marx fuss over, he grew even more confused when he could vaguely recall the owl talked, and told them something about a similar, hand-written report, likely a copy of this one. As confused as he was of how an owl knew to create such reports, he tensed when he recognized from the second alert message that his tablet seemed to be picking up live alerts to warn him about now, rather than simply reading things Ryoma left behind for whatever reason.

The second report claimed it was sent a few minutes ago. It was also brief on its contents, but he felt a rising panic of a different sort for what it said.

"Sync complete. Some files were renamed."

Uh-oh.

Did he mess up already? Did he lose those precious logs? He panicked when it dawned on him the texts contained within were not only remnants of Ryoma left, but likely Kiran as well. He clicked on the notification, but in his rising panic of somehow messing the tablet up more, he didn't realize Alfonse, Sharena and Shiro were on their way back in noticing his disappearance, or that Alfonse was peeking in.

"Ah, prince Siegbert, are you ready- um…"

He hesitated. Alfonse quickly gave the room a hasty glance-over to make sure there wasn't some kind of threat nearby, but the first thing he noticed right away was how tense and frightened Siegbert looked. His nervous "H-hmn-?" didn't inspire much confidence either. The second thing he noticed was the small tablet in Siegbert's hands that Alfonse guessed was the cause of Siegbert's sudden mood drop. While Siegbert initially didn't hide the tablet from him, thinking that Alfonse probably knew about it anyways from Kiran's version, his look of utter confusion told him otherwise and inspired more fears that messed up.

"Is… is everything alright, prince Siegbert? What is that tablet? Did it do something to you just now?" His question all but confirmed either Kiran didn't have his tablet yet, or (more likely) he hadn't told the others of its existence yet.

"I-it's fine." Clearing his throat, he tried to straighten himself up and compose himself. Or at the very least, he tried to make a damn good effort to pretend. "It is nothing. Pay me no mind."

"Are you sure?" Even Sharena had her doubts, which only made Siegbert double down.

"Yes. I apologize, but I assure you I am perfectly fine." Maybe he was laying it on a bit too thick, but his burdens was not theirs to shoulder, nor would it be fair.

"If you're sure… If you change your mind though, we'll do what we can to help." Sharena  _ tried _ to be encouraging, but her lack of her usual energy in her words were a dead giveaway she didn't believe he was even half as fine as he said he was.

"If you're truly certain, perhaps we should meet up with Commander Anna and Kiran. That is, if you're ready."

"Ah, right, yes. I am."

He took any excuse he could not to have to explain himself. But as much as he got away with it with the Askr siblings in quietly following their lead, Shiro slowed down on purpose to line up side by side with Siegbert as the two followed their lead from the rear.

"Sieg, what's up?" Siegbert could wiggle his way out of a confrontation with Alfonse and Sharena, but not quite so from Shiro. He also noticed how quickly Shiro was looking over the tablet in slight intrigue, but oddly didn't seem so surprised of it.

"...Did you ever see Papa use this, Shiro?"

"...Ah." From just how quickly his mood deflated, it told him more than enough.

"You saw it after all? How come you didn't say anything?"

"I mean… Pops always looked so upset whenever he used that thing. I didn't think it was worth waking you up and making you sad too." Which fed into Siegbert's guilt that Shiro acted more like an older brother than he did, but he tried not to dwell on that. “So I guess you knew all this time anyways…"

"Y-yes…" But as uneasy as he felt over what they both saw, there were more pressing matters in his hands. "But the tablet is acting strangely here. It kept picking up messages that are very recent. There was one I believe was from that owl or whoever cares for it just now."

"Oh~! You mean Feh?"

Both of them perked as Sharena spoke up. With how Siegbert had the same expression on his face as a deer staring down an arrow of a cocked bow, she realized too late they were having a private conversation.

"Ah, sorry for eavesdropping, but Feh is the messenger owl of the Order of Heroes~ She's quite friendly, and she is the one to bring the latest intel and valuable supplies like orbs~"

"Ah, so Feh is the owl herself then." So he wasn't just imagining it when he thought she spoke. "Is it normal for her to remotely use her powers over tablets like these?"

"Tablets?" Apparently not. But Sharena was curious enough to get to the bottom of it all the same. "I'm not sure I've seen another tablet like that beyond the one in your hand, Siegbert… Um… Ah, Alfonse."

Where Alfonse tried to keep his focus ahead and not pry, Sharena quickly changed that in running up ahead to stop Alfonse in his tracks with a gentle grab to the shoulder.

"Hm?"

"Didn't Anna have all those really bizarre devices like that tablet? Could that tablet be Anna's design?"

Looking back, and getting a better glimpse of it, Alfonse could see her point. Unfortunately, he also had his doubts.

"I seem to recall quite a few odd tomes she has, yes. But they were almost all such: tomes. I'm not quite sure what that tablet is, but it seems to be even beyond the commander's usual tools of her trade." In fact, they seem a bit too modern even for this world, not that he knew the best way to describe it as such. "It looks more like something Kiran would know about, perhaps."

"Did you see Kiran with such a thing though? I don't really remember seeing him with something like that…" Although, then again, Sharena did remember a few times of catching him unaware and him hastily trying to hide something.

"Not exactly, but… if Kiran wishes to keep his own secrets, even now, that is his decision…" And one that wouldn't exactly be unfounded. Alfonse recalled their rather rocky introduction, particularly for how jaded he himself was to open up to him right away for reasons that weren't even the summoner's fault. "Still, it probably wouldn't hurt to ask Kiran of it."

"I see… Perhaps." He did find Alfonse's reasoning sound, but was curious if Ryoma or Marx knew either. As Sharena and Alfonse continued on ahead, he looked down to it to try to look at what the tablet would show him now. 

He blinked when he saw many different files aligned neatly in a grid, but what caught his attention was how there were two folders named "Journal" and "Journal(1)", both of whom were bumped to the right with the sudden appearance of a third named "Second Journal". 

"...Huh." Siegbert was starting to catch on quickly enough that the Second Journal folder wasn't normally there before, and Journal(1) recognized enough the inconsistency in its creation time to mark itself as "from the future" to cope with the discrepancy. Relieved he didn’t lose anything after all, he was curious enough to tap onto the folder, easing back into a faint sense of confidence again to learn to use the tablet. In it, there was a single file noted to have been updated ‘a moment ago’, and tapping on it yielded a similar screen full of text.

However, in skimming through it, he perked in realizing it wasn’t Ryoma’s writing. His surprise was just enough for Shiro to perk up and look over his shoulder out of curiosity as well. They were both vaguely aware enough of the Askr siblings in front of them, but most of their focus went in quietly reading the text, especially as Siegbert had quickly gotten used to scrolling through it from Ryoma’s writing.

* * *

Well, shit. Didn’t exactly expect to see a glitch like that, but it’s kinda neat I guess so long as it didn’t eat my journal entries. Then again, I guess I can’t complain when it’s weird and lucky enough that this works at all even in a world like this. I wish it was just as easy to have unlimited power or wifi everywhere at home… Then again, I doubt Feh would be any less tight-lipped of the how’s or why’s if I asked about it again. (Tight-beaked? Who knows.)

* * *

Although briefly confused of the slight bit of jargon, the crude tone to this writing made him wonder if it was Kiran’s. As much as Siegbert felt some level of guilt with such a preface proving Kiran obviously noticed what he (accidentally) did, he was relieved to see it didn’t lessen Kiran’s enthusiasm to type his thoughts away all the same. As much as Siegbert and Shiro exchanged looks, there was a mix of hesitance to pry on something so private, but also a far stronger sense of excitement to get to know more of one of their lost fathers, in a sense, and both continued reading.

* * *

Am I being too paranoid and negative again? Or is it because of just how the way this world works? Everyone is so quick to adapt to just... _ everything. _

Turn into a dragon? Normal!

Get stuck in one another just to fuck? Totally fine! A part of me wonders if it’s Ryoma’s kink even…

Both of them end up pregnant? With sons who grow up to travel through time and appear well before either of them are born in  _ this _ timeline? Both of them seemed even more worried of what I’d think of it than the facts themselves.

If it turned out Loki was my sister or mom or whatever all along, I don’t think anyone would think twice of it.

What the hell am I supposed to think? Not even Alfonse or Sharena seem to find anything off of it, and Alfonse is usually the skeptic. I know I should be a bit more upfront of what’s on my mind, but how am I supposed to tell them my thoughts if only I feel anything odd about it all? And what if they take it the wrong way? I don’t exactly  _ hate _ this, but if those two are always on edge in some ways, what if it just freaks them both out, thinking otherwise? I think I would’ve gotten a far bigger reaction if I had announced one day I would pack my bags and fucked off back to my own world. I can’t count how many times Ryoma seemed to worry exactly of that, moreso than Alfonse even, especially lately.

But… even if I can’t be quite as honest as they wanted, and even if all feels overwhelming at times trying to catch up with everyone, I don’t really regret this either. Am I being ungrateful to even complain? Even if I feel constant whiplash of what keeps coming, and even if I can’t help that creeping fear Ryoma and Marx would get tired of my dumb ass any day now, maybe everything is much more ok than I give it credit for. And if everyone else feels things are ok, it does make it tempting to trust that feeling, too.

And it also doesn’t change the fact that, as chaotic as everyone and everything can feel at times, I still love them. I wouldn’t trade this life in Askr for the world. I just wish there was an easy way to say that more...

* * *

“...This is…” Siegbert was taken aback. He was glad he wasn’t the only one who saw the situation and felt uncertain of it, but he could feel a mix of different emotions in the words typed out, but also a sense of resignation in it all. As much as he hesitated of what to make of any of it, he reminded himself of why the text was so frank. Even Shiro shook his head of it, but as Siegbert revealed the end of the note, both of them blinked when they noticed a mark at the very end of it. The marker held the name ‘Elias’ on it. 

“...Uuuh… Who is ‘Elias’?” 

“Hm? Elias?” 

Looking up, the two brothers noticed the Askr siblings were already turned back and facing them just as everyone stopped in place. Shiro smiled sheepishly and awkwardly of blurting the name out, but they were both curious to see how the Askrans reacted.

“Does that name ring any bells, Alfonse? I can’t really remember anyone like that…”

“Hm… No. Not among heroes or otherwise, I’m afraid. What brought this up?”

“Ah, it’s the tablet. Just now, the name came up.” 

Without a second thought, Shiro took the tablet and held it up just enough to invite Alfonse and Sharena to step closer to look, which they did. As much as Siegbert initially panicked at the thought of showing something so intimate of what they initially thought was Kiran’s thoughts so freely, but he was too late to voice such concerns beyond a hesitant “Um…” when Alfonse and Sharena approached and looked at the marker. Unfortunately, given how tiny the marker was compared to the rest of the text on the screen, the temptation to look at the rest of the text was fairly strong. Fortunately, what was presented was what started off as the thought of Ryoma and Marx getting tired of Elias’s ‘dumb ass’, with everything before it remaining obscured off-screen.

“Oh! It’s so tiny, too! But- oh. It disappeared. Weird…”

“...Erm…”

“Alfonse?”

“...I wonder if Elias was Kiran’s actual name then.”

“Eh? Kiran? What gave you that idea?”

“The rest of the text. Only Ryoma and Kiran would ever refer to King Xander as ‘Marx’.”

“Ah? …Oh! Right! Right there! ...But… So this is his name. I wonder why he never told us his name all this time was Elias.”

“Kiran’s name is Elias?”

In all their distraction with the tablet, none of them noticed Anna, Soren and Kiran approach until Anna spoke up. As Shiro lowered the tablet the less focused everyone were on it, they watched how surprised Anna was, and how much Soren simply passed by with what appeared to be much of the supplies for Anna’s lessons. When they first met Kiran, Siegbert and Shiro saw quite a bit to the summoner’s face even in spite of the hood. But, this time, he seemed to make an effort to hide his eyes, moreso every time ‘Elias’ was mentioned.

“Was it, Kiran? It’s such a nice name~” She remembered their rather unfortunate meeting as if it were yesterday. Back then, it was like Kiran lost his voice, and ‘Kiran’ was a name she herself dubbed to him when Alfonse mentioned in passing it was a name one of the numerous summoners of Askran history were named. Even when Ryoma and Marx helped him find a voice, Kiran never really took initiative to share his real name, especially when ‘Kiran’ had long since stuck by then, so she was thrilled at the thought to learn it after all.

“A-ahaa… uh… Yeah…” But Kiran didn’t quite share the enthusiasm. He didn’t seem immediately upset to cave in on himself like some of the more touchier subjects of his past, but he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, realizing how long he went without revealing it, and not exactly beaming with pride of it either. 

“Are you comfortable with the name, Kiran? Or would you prefer we drop the subject…?” With even that much hesitance, Alfonse wanted to be sure. Even Shiro and Siegbert seemed hesitant at his reaction likewise. But to their relief, Kiran was far quicker to shake his head and wave the concern off in a slightly playful bit of panic.

“Oh! No,  _ nooo, _ it’s not like that! I’m ok with it, it’s just a bit of a surprise is all!” But then was it really? For all he knew, Marx and Ryoma shared the name to their sons, especially when Kiran realized enough they found out from the two. He wasn’t quite as quick to notice the tablet between them right away, let alone his own writing that used to be on the now-darkened screen.

“Hehehe good~ But now that we know, we may as well ask: Which name do you prefer more? Don’t be shy of either!” With the confirmation, Sharena was all too happy to embrace either names, which Kiran was glad for her energy, like always, even if he wasn’t quite so quick to match it.

“Ah, well… I’m ok with either, but, I admit, I really do still like just sticking to Kiran. Easier for everyone else, right? Haha~”

“You sure? Like I said, don’t be shy if you wanna change it~”

“I’m sure, I’m sure. Elias might’ve been a part of my past, but as Kiran, it matters a lot to me too. I took it like a sign of our friendship since you all technically gave it to me. I might not have much hard feelings of my old name, but I guess… I embraced that new name for so many reasons, you know?”

“In the same sense our Xander chose a different name, right? As Marx?” Not that Anna seemed to mind Kiran’s decision, but with a wink, she smiled rather brightly to Kiran’s sentiments. “So it’s on a much grander scale, but no less thoughtful. In that case, we’ll keep calling you Summoner Kiran then~ Now then. Everybody ready for some tactic drills? I take it too we have two new students, it seems!”

“Yes. But, I trust you’d be just as  _ generous _ with your teachings with Kiran’s sons as you would with Kiran himself, yes?” Alfonse could see a certain, familiar glint in Anna’s eyes, and true to his word, he was preemptively protecting them from an incoming sale.

“Oh you… Fiiiine, yes, of course.” But as flustered as she was, seeing how serious Alfonse was, she gave up fairly quickly, particularly when Alfonse pointed out their relation to Kiran. “So… his sons, huh? Interesting~”

Crisis averted, it seemed. Not that it was much of a crisis to begin with, but Siegbert of the two had his preemptive worries. But as Kiran still seemed to be in a fairly good mood, and everyone else seemed calm and easily distracted with the tactic drills at hand, especially when Soren already went ahead to set up the lessons they planned for the day. Shiro and Siegbert both tried to keep their heads metaphorically low while trailing behind the other Order of Heroes to ease themselves into their clique. It made it even easier to try to forget about the tablet in favor of the lessons, and thus hide the fact he and Shiro might’ve pried on what definitely turned out to be Kiran’s private journals.

“Ah, by the way Kiran… There was an unusual tablet Siegbert and Shiro showed us a moment ago. Does it look like anything from your world?”

“Uuuh… Oh! Looks like a smartphone. Yeah, we have those.”

Well, almost. Shiro didn’t exactly hide the phone out of Kiran’s line of sight, but while Kiran recognized it almost immediately for what it was, it didn’t occur to him quite as fast as their weapons a moment ago that it was  _ his phone specifically _ from another time. It opened the floodgates of questions for Kiran on the subject, and it was to a point Soren had to redirect their attention back a few times toward the lesson proper. Then again, the more details they carefully pried out of Kiran of how it worked and what it could do to interact with other phones, it didn’t take long for Soren to change his tune a few times with his own questions. Just a few.

Thankfully, no matter the subject, Siegbert was still keen not to reveal Kiran’s journal entries. Not only did he keep it a secret from the Order of Heroes of their existence, but also kept it from Kiran their rather unfortunate ability to pry, especially when Kiran himself neither questioned the subject, nor did it click that, as their phones were literally the same phones, they were synced in much more unexpected ways than the summoner realized. He was just as keen to keep Shiro from trying to reveal it either. They were fortunate enough that Kiran didn’t quite mind sharing his actual name, but it was painfully clear such a detail was rather intimate beforehand, and now wasn’t the best time to air out even more of Kiran’s business for all to see on top of that. Thankfully, Shiro complied, and eventually, the phone was tucked away in his convoy in favor of the drill, out of sight and out of mind.

* * *

Soren wasn’t sure what he expected, but the lesson this time proved surprisingly more fruitful than the rather low bar he set for quite some time.

He overheard enough between the first time he saw the two that Shiro and Siegbert were Ryoma’s, Marx’s and Kiran’s sons. With such a preface, especially the latter of the three, he wasn’t particularly holding high hopes, especially for how humble both kings were about their tactical skills, and Kiran’s clumsy grasp he saw for himself time and again otherwise. For how Shiro’s input seemed focused on everything except the lessons, he proved Soren’s suspicions correct.

Siegbert, on the otherhand, was a completely different story. He took in what Anna prepared, and while he took a moment to get acquainted with the tomes Anna used to project the training drills, and more to study on the idea the units the projections displayed had readable skills and stats to bear in mind, once he learned them, he proved himself in kind.

Compared to Kiran, Siegbert was much quicker to play out his strategies once he had a set plan. While Kiran tried to play it safe only to often run out of time, Siegbert noticeably did a stress-test on pushing his units to their limits, often finishing Anna’s lessons with his soldiers all hanging on by the skin of their teeth, but were all alive and accounted for nonetheless, and otherwise right on the nose of Anna’s projected time limits. That alone may have only been mildly interesting, particularly when Soren knew Kiran would finish the drills  _ eventually _ as well, but what caught his eye moreso about Siegbert were a few times he went even beyond Anna’s original plans and occasionally defied her hints. In one such lesson, she tried to hint to the importance of a unit to stay on the defense on rugged terrain, of which Siegbert only left him there for a single turn’s worth and still won.

“Woah, you sure?”

“Yes Shiro, I’m sure. It might be a rough turn, but he’ll make it. I trust him.”

In the last lesson of the day, he did it again. He initially went as Anna planned in taking advantage of the buffs brought in letting his other units reposition themselves or bump others around the map, but her advice of the lesson was to be extra careful not to allow the lone kitsune unit to be surrounded. Where Kiran failed yet again in timing out trying a little too hard to heed such advice, it surprised Shiro when Siegbert disregarded it completely.

And yet, as tense as everyone was to watch as the poor kitsune was pummeled by two armored soldiers and a flying unit attacking on all sides but the map’s boundary, not only did the kitsune manage to survive the onslaught with much more health than expected, but he took out the flying unit in retaliation. As Siegbert directed the kitsune to flee while there was an opening, and then swap places to boost the stats of a neighboring tiger laguz, he finished the level by cleaning the map with his remaining units, just in time.

Maybe he stood heavily corrected in his initial doubts, but he welcomed the opportunity of being proven wrong. If any case, even if the potential wasn’t fully realized in Kiran as far as his power from Breidablik to hold tactical advantages any other tactician can only dream to come close to, he was glad to see a budding tactician have that power as well.He also couldn’t help but notice Siegbert seemed to give Kiran fairly expecting looks, no doubt trying to use the entire drill as a platform to prove himself to his rather baffled father.

_ “Ranulf.” _

But as the lesson was winding down, and class was, effectively, dismissed, he noticed Ranulf pass by, still in his cat form. He was even faster to notice one of Ranulf’s ears was tipped red and very slightly split in the very end.

_ “What did you do? Why didn’t you get your ear treated?” _

“Mrrwah?”

But no matter how firm Soren’s tone was, Ranulf hardly paid much mind, and he didn’t even realize anything off about his ear in the first place. He was just as relaxed, not just to the new pair of heroes looking him over, but patiently sitting in front of Soren as the mage muttered things under his breath from curses to far softer concerns as he took a piece of cloth and rubbed the ear, not just to clean it of its blood, but then run his fingers along its surface with a visible demonstration to his magic to heal it.

“Oh! Soren, you’re a healer?” Where Shiro and Siegbert were in awe over the sight of a fully transformed cat laguz, and Alfonse, Sharena and Anna were already packed and headed off to the rest of today’s task, Kiran still lingered behind to watch out of concern, but was quickly stunned over how versatile Soren’s magic was.

“A little.” He spoke simply, and he didn’t look up to Kiran as he did so. His focus was entirely on Ranulf, but Kiran gave him the benefit of the doubt it was him trying to maintain his spell.

“Wait, but don’t healers use staves?” Granted, healing to any extent was beyond either of the three’s capabilities, but Shiro was willing to ask first.

“For larger and dire wounds, yes. To use a stave or vulnerary on such a minor cut, however, would be a bit wasteful.” And yet, for someone so resource-conscious all of a sudden, he ignored the glaring fact he was the one fussing over Ranulf over such a minor nick to the ear, particularly when the cat survived far worse up to then. Still, as Ranulf loudly and roughly purred, it was also clear he was basking in the attention and pretending at times to be much more ‘hurt’ than he really was.

“But… you can heal!” He didn’t know how versatile it was for mages to adjust to become healers or vice versa, but Kiran’s eyes lit up in excitement of the revelation.

“If I must.” Yet again, Soren was still nonchalant of it, but he finally stopped fussing over Ranulf just enough to give the cat space. Fully healed, he relented on taking the time to transform back into his humanoid form, rather than milking Soren’s mood-dip any further, surprising Siegbert and Shiro yet again.

He guessed as much of their relations from their scents. Given all other combination of parent and child meeting up from far flung timelines, this didn’t surprise him much. For as patient as he was of their surprise to see a laguz, he was even more relieved of the lack of the all too familiar prejudice he witnessed and dealt with up to his life in Askr in favor of introducing himself and catching on fairly quickly how hot-blooded Shiro was, especially as the subject eventually shifted on Ike.

“Hey Soren? Can you teach me?”

But while Ranulf kept both young princes distracted, it still left Soren with Kiran. His excitement didn’t fade since seeing Soren’s treatment of Ranulf, and even well into the point Ranulf clearly led the two princes off, Kiran still remained at his side.

“Teach you what?”

“Well… everything you do! But moreso healing.”

He rose an eyebrow. This wouldn’t be the first time he was asked about the possibility of teaching Kiran the ways of magic, by Ike, Ranulf or otherwise. Initially, his answer those times was a rather hasty “Hell no.”, but so long as Kiran kept his word about the scope of the subject, he did somewhat relent this time that a Kiran who knew how to heal was a far better asset to their arsenal than a Kiran who could sneeze a wall down or set things on fire on impulsive whims. As if Kiran with Breidablik wasn’t chaotic enough, let alone whatever destructive force Ryoma and Marx were trying to groom him into.

But then again, old habits died hard, and he still had his own doubts all the same.

“...Don’t you have two future sister-in-laws who are healers? And one of them was supposedly the best of the army? Why are you asking me to train you and not them? Or what about your older in-laws who also specialize in magic?” Surely, Kiran would’ve wanted to be tutored by his newfound family, rather than a branded whom much of Tellius scorned. For that matter, he wasn’t ignorant to how rough and tentative their friendship started as, even if he admired Kiran’s resilient wish to befriend him despite such a frosty start to get where they were. 

“While true, it’s… different with them... “

Was he hesitating? To his family? Kiran had such a vast wealth of opportunities in his hands, and Soren couldn’t tell what to feel of it when the summoner didn’t seem to want to seize it.

“How so?”

“They were either born with that kind of power, or they were born in a rich life. Or, er… royal life, rather… The point is, the way they were taught what they knew made it feel almost impossible. Like we were both from different worlds.”

“You  _ were _ from different worlds… As is also the case with you and I… Where are you going with this?”

“Not like that… I mean… My point is, you taught yourself everything you knew. You made stuff like that feel like it’s possible even for someone like me to learn. And with training with Ryoma and Marx, the way they teach me things always felt like they assume I should know certain things by default, and I can feel how worried or frustrated they get when I just… don’t... “

“Kiran…” 

“So I thought, with the way you learned, it could be different. I wanna learn like you did. You’d know best of all how it felt, so…”

He sighed slowly and heavily. Initially, he was bristling a little in expecting this to be a clumsy attempt to compare their privileges, which Soren wasn’t quite in the mood for. What it  _ actually _ boiled down to, however, left him frustrated for a much different reason. 

He saw Kiran’s point, as much as he hated to admit such, especially when the two found out just enough of each other’s backgrounds to know they were at least somewhat cut from the same cloth, even if under different circumstances. He realized, with some lingering frustrations, that maybe it was  _ because _ of this that made him let his guard down just enough to ease into such a friendship to begin with. Once again, that past was brought back to the surface, but to see Kiran treat it like a badge of courage over a subject of scorn gave him pause.

“...Very well.”

Without a shadow of doubt, Kiran was still a dumbass, but he at least had his heart in the right place. He watched the summoner perk up excitedly.

“Really? You will~?”

“I suppose. The results are promising enough to justify it.” And while he had some sympathy for his spouses to  _ actually _ see more reason to teach one of the three how to be a healer, he wasn’t quite ready to wear his heart on his sleeves just yet. He was content enough for now to give Kiran this much.

“Oh! And maybe after learning how to heal, could you teach me how to use offensive magic next?”

“Hah~  _ No. _ ”

But he wasn’t quite content enough to go an inch further than that. Not yet.

* * *

As Soren and Kiran immediately began training together in the now empty tactics room, the princes took on even more training of another sort. As Sharena predicted, Ike was calm and laidback enough to not only take in who they were fairly easily, but proved her right that he didn’t mind sparring with them either. He was almost as quick as Ranulf to accept things as they are without much thought to dig any deeper, but then again, even without the numerous other similar cases, he had already was accustomed to a situation like theirs ever since meeting Lucina and her own similar, unfortunate circumstances. Between them, Siegbert only got as far as to admit that the life they left behind was one of great loss, and it told Ike more than enough that perhaps, they had more in common with Lucina than either of them were quite as ready to admit just yet.

“Perhaps the two of you could do with some distraction then. If General Ike here allows, then try to distract your mind with this training. And if you prefer otherwise, you’re welcome to join me in the sidelines instead.”

But they were still somewhat uncertain whether or not now was the best time to tell, especially when they were both aware Ryoma was with Ike, and just returned from stepping away just for a moment. To Shiro’s excitement, Ike agreed easily to train with them, but while Siegbert only stuck with such for so long, it was truly Shiro’s time to shine instead while his older brother eventually gave up and was already on his way to join Ranulf and Ryoma.

“Quite the feisty one, isn’t he? I admit I am quite curious to see him duel with Skrimir.”

“I suppose. Skrimir is one of your superiors, wasn’t he? A lion laguz? I am a bit curious if Shiro or Siegbert inherited anything in regards to our dragon forms, particularly if they were to have a duel among beasts.”

“Oh, they’re both dragons as well. I can tell from their scents they’re probably gonna be very similar dragons to either of you two, assuming either of them know how to transform already.”

“And yet, Kiran had the scent of a dragon as well, yes? Yet he also has yet to transform entirely.”

“Give it time. Certain laguz, but especially dragons, do have the occasional late-bloomer. Then again, if Loki was the one to change him, then I guess there’s the chance she might be holding that power back as well, for some reason.”

“Perhaps… confusing as that reason may... “

Then again, with Loki, the possibility she did so simply for the sake of doing so wasn’t entirely out of the question either, as frustrating as Ryoma found it. He and Ranulf watched Siegbert as he moved close enough beside them, and while the two welcomed him, they weren’t quite certain how much of their talk he picked up.

“Actually… We both indeed know how to transform.”

At least, until Siegbert was willing to confirm it.

“Ah? So the two of you are dragons after all?” It still left Ryoma wondering if Kiran ever showed any other form, but for now, he stuck to focusing on either princes.

“Yes. However, we were told not to transform unless we absolutely must. We both heard stories of how our uncle, our aunt, their father, and the tyrant of Nohr couldn’t fully control themselves without a stone. We especially heard how the latter lost their minds over such. As neither of us were given dragonstones or knew where to look for them otherwise, you- ...our version of you warned us not to transform ourselves, and to bear in mind the risks if we do. He taught us when we were still too young for such instability to fully hinder us, but… we kept our word…”

Although, to Siegbert’s dismay, he also knew the only stone they ever saw was Ryoma’s, and it was broken by the time their Ryoma returned to them. As much as Ryoma couldn’t help but snort a little at the ‘tyrant of Nohr’, he didn’t correct it. If Garon didn’t deserve the honor in Siegbert’s timeline, he certainly wouldn’t get his dues here either.

“I think we can help you out with that, then. Your parents didn’t start with their own stones either, but it was fairly easy for us here to get them their own stones on fairly short notice.”

“Yes, and for that matter, Kiran needed one as well. Azura already sent word she would have one for him, but I’m sure she would gladly help the two of you as well. Particularly when we tell her and our other siblings the news.”

“A-ah, right the...rest of the… *ahem* Excuse me…”

Why was it so hard? Why must his words keep failing him at times like these? Was it really all about his nerves? Could something so minor really affect so much? After going so long in the day proving he could articulate himself just fine before, he couldn’t tell if it was the fact it was Ryoma he was facing, or the more painful subjects otherwise.

“Come now, Siegbert. There’s no need to feel guilt.”

He looked up. Even in this world, even in a time Ryoma wasn’t necessarily  _ his _ father, that gentle tone and smile he remembered had still remained. If anything changed about it, he saw a version of it now where Ryoma was far more relaxed and warm. He wanted to say more, but he only got as far as to open his mouth before they and Ranulf noticed Shiro yelp as he lost his balance and nearly fell over, only for Ike to grab him at the last minute to keep him balanced.

“Phwah-ha!  _ Phew! _ Guess- haa…. Guess I still got some more training to do still…” But he was far from discouraged. Shiro was thrilled to see for himself the kind of challenge Ike posed even in a practice bout, even when he quickly ran out of too much energy to keep up with such.

“You did pretty good.” Ike pulled Shiro closer, but just enough to help the young prince stand straighter on his feet and trust him enough to support himself to let him go.

“Heh~ I learned from the best: my father. One day, I want to surpass him.” He beamed with pride and confidently walked closer to the others, all while Ike followed him and carefully kept tabs on him from behind. As much as everyone’s attention were on him and Ike already, Ranulf’s drifted when Ike reunited with him, leaving the princes almost entirely to just Ryoma.

“Hey! Pops! Up for a battle? I can’t wait to compare our strengths!” It was so easy to take in everything for what it was. Even when his brother had his reservations, Shiro held high spirits over their future in this timeline together. Maybe it was selfish, and in some regard, callous of him, but he completely embraced the idea of fully accepting his dads like he would the fathers they both lost, and saw things in a more positive angle. In this instance, he knew how much their Ryoma had dulled in his strengths, especially with the context he kept hidden for so long of what weakened him all that time. To see Ryoma here in his prime, it thrilled Shiro to challenge his father at his full strength.

“Ah… And I am certain you will have plenty of opportunities for that. I promise. But, perhaps not this time.” Unfortunately, Ryoma had already trained as much as he was able to handle for the day with Ike, and while he was well enough to keep a fairly calm, he knew another bout would quickly change all that. He could see Shiro’s excitement slipping, but Ryoma continued. “Were I to spar with you now, I’m afraid I wouldn’t quite be at my full strength as I may in another time. That’s what you wanted, yes?”

Shiro couldn’t help but let slip a soft “Aww…”, but Ryoma also clearly saw right through him. He couldn’t help but still keep his smile, and he nodded to his point.

“Then that is indeed for another time. And when we do spar, I may be better prepared with more than just a katana, especially when you seem quite fond of using a naginata.”

“Heh… Yeah, well…” He rubbed the back of his head, almost exactly as Kiran did earlier in the day. Given all the times he’s seen Kiran do a similar gesture whenever his confidence failed him, he could see the part of him in Shiro underneath the strong physical similarities Shiro took from him otherwise. “Short answer: lance beats katana. In that case, I’d already be on the right track to surpassing you.”

“Heh… Yes, I suppose that’s fair.” But it was only a start. Not that Ryoma wanted to dampen his mood to point it out right away yet.

“But the longer answer: it was what Dad took up. Or er… what Elias took up, that is.”

“...Elias?” 

“Er, yeah, Summoner Elias.”

“Kiran, you mean…?” 

Unfortunately, given the big fuss over Kiran’s actual name a moment ago, Elias was much more fresh on Shiro’s mind when he scrambled to try to think up the name  _ besides _ ‘Dad’. In his mental clumsiness, no matter how ever present ‘Kiran’ was by everyone else besides Siegbert up to then, the common use of the name made him briefly doubt it for a moment that this was the name he should’ve used instead.

Which wouldn’t have been such a big deal, were it not for how painfully obvious Ryoma had never heard the name ‘Elias’ before, and how confused, and strangely  _ concerned _ Ryoma was at the name.

“Y-yes.” Siegbert cleared his throat loud enough to briefly redirect their focus to him. “Yes, he means Kiran. My apologies, but we learned a moment ago of his name.”

Ryoma’s eyes narrowed a little. It wasn’t out of anger or suspicion, but the look was still tense for reasons the princes weren’t certain of. 

“...Er… Did Dad not tell you?”

“Shiro…”

“Ah, well… No.” And the thought stung him, especially with the way Shiro worded his point, but Ryoma tried not to let it show on his face. “But erm… On that note, it does bring up another point. Though I may not be able to spar with either of you today, I do still want to get to know the two of you more. How have you both been adjusting to Askr so far?”

“Superb. It is more than either of us could ask for, thank you Lord-... Papa.” It still took Siegbert time to remind himself their fathers already made their feelings clear about what to call them. Especially with his knee-jerk thought that they might resent them for trying to be too close, too soon still preying on him on occasion.

“Heh, yeah. It’s a far cry from what we could do within just our Deeprealm huh. And even the people around here are amazing. They all look so strong, and the vibe around Askr is really easy to feel pumped up with!”

“Good, good. Sounds like the two of you are right at home here.”

Ryoma smiled to them, but it was fainter this time. It was almost as faint as it was with their own Ryoma, and right away, both realized that the thought of Kiran’s name was still on his mind. They were briefly distracted when they overheard Ranulf laugh a little, but while he and Ike were still talking, their tone was too soft to really focus on the exact words, and the two weren’t particularly focused on the three of them.

“Er, hey, Pops, who is the strongest? Is it Dad?” With how deflated Ryoma was, Shiro tried to make an effort to distract him.

“Hm?” And to his relief, Ryoma’s attention was immediately drawn back to him.

“Like I said before, I took up a lance because of Dad. Given how you and Father would use swords, did Dad take up Yari to try to compete with the two of you? He must be way stronger than he looks then! Haha!”

“Er… ah… well…” He did find it charming how much Shiro seemed to think highly of Kiran, and Ryoma hoped Kiran himself could one day share the same sense of confidence in himself, but he felt some bit of guilt to rain on Shiro’s parade over his other father. “At present, Kiran is actually training under Marx in the ways of the sword. Particularly a broadsword. That being said, I  _ do _ know combat with a lance as well, and I would be glad to spar or train otherwise with such, but our Kiran has yet to take up such training, I’m afraid…”

He felt even more frustrated at how weaker their smiles were yet again. He was wondering if perhaps he should redirect them to their other fathers, especially when he was on a steady path to ruining the mood completely if their looks were anything to go by.

“So, your Kiran proved quite adept to a lance then? From how you sparred with Ike, you proved your skills quite well with a naginata.”

“Aha….ha… um….”

The feelings Ryoma had of making it all worse only grew stronger when their smiles were outright forced now, and even so, were still steadily growing weaker.

“It’s… actually  _ you _ who taught me all that stuff, Papa… Or, well, he  _ was _ a great fighter in his own right. You’d tell us all the time of how strong Dad and Father were, but… you were the only parent we knew…”

No wonder the two were so tense earlier. He remembered just how quickly Shiro and Siegbert withdrew in on themselves when Kiran tried and failed to encourage them, and he could see them do so again now. He felt his heart ache at the thought of losing either of his lovers, and with the way they were acting, he had an immediate guess on how.

“...Do either of you feel comfortable enough to describe what happened?”

“We would if we could, Papa. We owe all of you as much, as painful as it is, but… It is, unfortunately, not for  _ us _ to say… Our fathers passed away well before either of us were old enough to remember. We never had the chance to meet Dad or Father directly, and what we knew of them were from the stories you’d tell us while we were growing up in our Deeprealm.”

“I see…” His voice completely lacked all of his strength. Despite how calm, if heavily neutral he outwardly looked, his heart sank, and his throat ran dry at the confirmation. Worse, without Shiro or Siegbert’s insight, he wouldn’t have any idea how to protect them, or if their fate could even be averted.

That was, until he noticed Shiro and Siegbert exchange looks before Siegbert sighed and revealed his phone.

"But… even if we personally don't know enough to accurately relay to you of what happened, that is not to say that such information is lost. Our Kiran- ...our dad had this strange device that Dad recognized as a 'phone'. Of the smart variety, I think he said. We've… we could teach you to use it… and if so, you can read what the Dad and Papa of our world had recorded…"

Ryoma tensed up a bit. Even when he carefully took the phone, his nerves got the better of him and caused his hand to tremble briefly in taking it. He hesitated in examining it carefully, but the hesitance wasn't entirely over the opportunity to find out the truth.

"I'm so sorry, Papa… I know the memories would be beyond painful. The you of our world had suffered terribly, and yet, he did everything he could to protect us and shield us from his burdens and sorrows… But even so, we know as well that all of you deserve the right to know, especially when it is within our power to grant you that knowledge. I would understand completely if you would rather that pain be forever buried, as would Shiro, but at the very least, we wanted that to be your decision to make…"

They had a point. With such a preface, he knew they were serious, not just with this gift, but with their dire warnings of what to expect of it likewise. To think, such a delicate little tablet could hold such power and precious knowledge… Then again, if it was originally Kiran's, he reminded himself time and again how woefully unfamiliar he and Marx still were about Kiran's home world, let alone what kind of weapons or relics there were from there or what they could do.

But… as much as it pained him, Siegbert was also correct that such information was necessary, especially if it could save Kiran and Marx. While he could only guess as much the extent of their losses, even just those two were bad enough as it is.

"You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should not only thank you both, but apologize as well to put such a burden on the two of you."

" _ No. _ Please… don't apologize for that… Our Papa… he was very harsh on himself to the very end. He blamed himself more than he should've, and none of this was his fault either. So, please… do not blame him or yourself for this…"

Which only frustrated Ryoma more that it came to this, but he held his tongue, even if he felt even more guilt that even their own sons saw through him. 

With a heavy sigh, he tried to shift the subject to Siegbert and Shiro teaching him how to use the phone. By pure luck, with how Kiran taught them using his own phone, the summoner still remained oblivious of not just how Siegbert and Shiro could pry into his journal entries, and that ignorance continued now that Siegbert and Shiro both tried to teach the same thing to Ryoma. Despite their offer, Ryoma tried to ease their burden of having to teach Marx otherwise, figuring if he was vigilant enough of the lesson for himself, he could teach him directly and spare the trouble for his sons. 

In return, he tried to guide them with him to lead them to places in Askr himself to help ease their minds further, right up until the point he led them toward the mess hall, not just to eat there, but gather food for much later.

“It’s really alright to eat this? We could prepare anything?”

“Yes, yes. Alfonse and Sharena in particular gave their blessings to us. And if you doubt your cooking skill, over there is where some chefs prepared certain dishes of their own to take.”

Charmed by the continued generosity of the Askr siblings, Ryoma nudged the princes a little more to encourage them one last time, which finally eased them both into heading off and disappearing into the crowd. Then again, it was more that Shiro was convinced faster of the two, and he was far too strong for Siegbert to hold back when he grabbed his brother’s hand and eagerly rushed off.

Letting them go, Ryoma was about to head off in the other direction to cook for himself, rather than try to take a prepared dish, but he perked when he saw Takumi in the crowd and moved close enough to wave him down and coax his brother to walk up to him.

“Ah! Takumi! So you’ve returned to Askr earlier. It’s good to see you.”

“Heh, Ryoma, just the person I wanted to see~” He smiled brightly and cheerfully, perhaps too much so, which already tipped Ryoma off he wasn’t actually in the best mood right then. “It’s good to see you too,  _ jackass.” _

“Takumi…” Seeing his brother was already pretty short with him, he moved straight to the point. “What’s wrong? Have I done something to upset you?”

“Well that’s one way to put it.” With his point made clear, he directed Ryoma’s attention to his hair for a brief moment. He earlier missed sight of a large feather with a blue tip. One side was white, the other was gold, and immediately, he was aware that it was a kinshi feather. When Takumi plucked it out from its secure spot in his hair, he held it up to Ryoma while having completely dropped his ‘happy’ act for an accusatory glare. 

“Didn’t I warn you not to separate WangJi from Wuxian?! Those two are a special case! If you’re gonna take WangJi, at least take Wuxian with him!”

Lately, Ryoma noticed he had moments where it took him a little longer than usual to process certain things. Unfortunately, this was one of those instances, and be it the pregnancy, or his hunger otherwise, his mind clouded just enough to have to take a moment to remember who WangJi was. When he remembered it was his kinshi, he also remembered the  _ other _ instance this type of brainfart came to play.

Specifically, it was something Takumi had indeed warned Ryoma of, and more than once. WangJi was close with another kinshi that Takumi dubbed as ‘Wuxian’. Both birds inherited the name of lords of Hoshido’s past, and these two names in particular were just as unfortunately fitting in that Wuxian was practically co-dependent on staying close to WangJi in the kennels.

“...Shit. Gods, Takumi, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you should be!” Not willing to give Ryoma an inch of it, he shook his head in disbelief of him. “Because of you, Wuxian’s been going nuts. It took me a while to realize why, but in the meantime, I caught that bastard going so far as to try to pluck his own feathers out. I managed to catch him in time before he tried to go for his flight feathers next, but dammit, Ryoma, we talked about this so many times!”

Ryoma groaned. Takumi groaned with him, almost in unison.

WangJi was an incredible kinshi of his own right. He was calm, gentle, and he was highly tame and careful when Ryoma needed him to be (particularly for training new riders) yet a fierce, agile bird when he needed such in battle. He was also just as tame and easily managed by even the stablehands, and so it made it that much easier to give in to the temptation to transfer the bird from Hoshido to Askr and introduce the bird to Askran stablehands likewise.

Wuxian, on the otherhand, was an utter menace. He was an unruly, spoiled bird whom Takumi managed to ‘tame’ only by virtue of patiently accepting his mischief and giving in to his highly fussy nature, or have his ribbon stolen or hair held onto otherwise until he gave in. Ryoma wouldn’t dare try to introduce people to kinshis through Wuxian, particularly when he could count the numerous times Wuxian would act defiant even to certain stablemen or act far too unpredictable for even Ryoma to trust riding him into a serious battle. It only served to strengthen WangJi’s own qualities when he would often step in to soothe the other bird and calm him.

So it made Ryoma even more guiltridden and upset at himself when he completely forgot to take Wuxian into account when migrating WangJi. Given Wuxian’s nature, he was already dreading to see the full extent of what Wuxian likely did to himself by the time Takumi caught on, but he knew whatever the bird already did, Takumi’s outrage was well justified.

“Takumi I am deeply sorry, I’ll-”

“Save your breath. I already moved him, and he’s already settled in with WangJi as it is. It was the only way to get him to stop.” He groaned. He knew his anger wouldn’t change what he already did, and at least he caught Wuxian early enough, but he still felt frustrated enough to vent. “Just  _ please _ don’t try to separate them again, alright? Train Kiran on him or something, I don’t care, but cut Wuxian a bit more slack, will you?”

These birds, no matter their temperament, were Takumi’s pride and joy. Where Hinoka had a claim over the pegasi knights of Hoshido, Takumi tried to make his own mark over the kinshi knights instead. And to be fair, he seemed quite at home understanding the temperament and behaviors of the birds, even if much of his experience, unfortunately, came from his observations when hunting birds of other varieties for game. As loud and sensitive as he could be normally, the birds were even more of a sensitive subject to him, particularly in regards to their well-being.

“I will…” With a solemn nod, he vowed to be far more careful not to repeat such a mistake, flustered as he was to make it in the first place. “But, there is also something I would like to discuss with you and the rest of the family.”

“Oh? Have at it then. What’s up?” With the matter of Wuxian settled, Takumi did eventually calm down as well.

“It’s quite a bit of news that is far too long to explain, unfortunately. That’s why we wanted to do so while everyone is together. Would you be free, say, tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I guess. Will you at least tell me if it’s good news, or bad?”

“It’s  _ mostly _ pleasant, but there are a few matters that are a bit more...erm… it’s complicated... “

“That much of a mess, huh? Alright, I’ll save the questions for tomorrow then. For now, I guess I’ll turn you loose to your boyfriends.”

“Hm? They’re here?” At least Ryoma took a bit of hope from this that if Marx was here, it meant he finished his work after all. Maybe he was truthful this time when he said his work earlier was ‘small’ after all.

“Yep. Right in there. Kiran’s trying to cook again, I think.”

And then Ryoma’s stomach sank at the news. 

He felt bad to be so overdramatic of it, but the thought of Kiran cooking again was enough for him to hiccup. The memory of Kiran somehow burning an attempt at a simple steak to an utter crisp, yet at the same time leaving the entire inside of the slab of meat utterly raw, was still rather fresh in his thoughts. This time, Ryoma was certain it was his condition that caused even the mere thought of that dish to turn his stomach sour. It made him force himself to try to hold back from burping in front of Takumi, let alone try to fight against the sense of dread and nausea to follow.

“Geez, I’m pretty sure I saw Xander with him, Nii-sama.” He shook his head, noticing how quickly Ryoma turned pale and guessing the reasons for why. “And to be fair, they didn’t really start anything  _ yet. _ I think Xander’s the one that’s trying to do the actual cooking. If you hurry up, you might even catch them.”

“T-thank you, Takumi. If you’ll excuse me…”

To Ryoma’s credit, he  _ tried _ to make an effort to keep calm, particularly as he was walking away.

Emphasis on ‘tried.’

The further he went away from Takumi, the quicker his pace was. Takumi couldn’t help but laugh when he watched his brother eventually power-walk rather hastily toward one of the communal kitchens, trying to find whichever one had Marx and Kiran in it. But as much as he shook his head to his brother while his back was turned, Takumi let him go and went on his own way, leaving his brother to his own devices.

Fortunately, he did find his lovers, and better yet, he caught them just as they were about to begin plans, even if he could see - and smell - evidence that the two seemed to be trying to pass time on something that did seem likely to be Marx’s handiwork as it was simmering. With the pot on the stove, it was a savory, highly fragrant stew of some kind that took all of Ryoma’s nerves not to distract himself with it. Instead, he tried not to draw attention to himself when Marx and Kiran were too distracted with each other to notice him.

“Let’s see…” A part of Ryoma’s hesitance to interrupt was from how Kiran was clearly trying to recall something. He didn’t want to snap the summoner’s train of thought just to make himself known. “Probably the first step would be to chop a whole yellow onion, two carrots, two celery stalks, some peeled russet potatoes, and uh… oh, chopped garlic, too.”

“Not minced?”

“Oh, ah, true. Normally, it’ll be minced, but I might go overboard on garlic cloves at times for my own dishes, heh~”

“Fair point, I suppose. So far, that sounds fairly reasonable. Go on.”

“We also have to melt the butter beforehand, too.”

“Hm… I’m sure we can figure something out. What else?”

“Well, there were these packs of steak seasoning I like to throw in there too. They’re from the-....er… Actually, nevermind, you don’t have brands and such here anyways, huh…”

“Ah… Well… I’m sure we can come up with our own spice mixture with some practice and combination tests. I’m sure Peri would be glad to offer advice on it as well.”

“If you say so… Especially with how varied the spices are in here, Hoshido and Nohr, I guess it wouldn’t hurt having different varieties to go with our moods… Anyways, with all that prep work, we would’ve pre-heated our ovens to 350 degrees.”

For how flexible Marx was, it was up to this point he didn’t see any issue with why Kiran’s recipes might’ve been difficult to translate to the cooking conventions here. Now, he took pause and stared at Kiran in utter confusion.

“...Pardon?”

“Pre-heat the-”

“Ah, no, I heard you, but… H-how on earth does your world even…?” He stared back to the oven currently cooking the stew he was making. The oven - he reminded himself - whose source of heat was drawn by a contained, but otherwise unpredictable flame just under the large cast iron pot. 

“Does your world’s cooking really need to make an exact science out of it?” Even Ryoma was left baffled of such specific numbers over something like cooking on an open flame. He couldn’t help himself but break his silence, which immediately drew both of their attentions.

“Ryoma! You’re here~”

“How much have you heard?”

“Enough to get a decent idea that you were sharing some kind of recipe of some sort. What is it?”

“Ah, it was a recipe for steak pot pie I was trying to remember. Marx was trying to help get an idea of why I struggle to cook in Askr… I used to be able to cook, but not really the same way as all of you. Hence cases like that uh… that steak from before… Or those cookies...”

“Hm…” He and Marx could both see it in Kiran’s eyes. The summoner didn’t forget his past attempts either, and it was equally frustrating on the summoner’s part to suddenly lose whatever concepts he could grasp on how to cook by being here, just as much as it was saddening to the two on seeing Kiran fumble on what seemed to be a hobby he really loved doing before. “What about things like soup? Rather than leave it to bake under an open, unmeasured flame, soup is a bit more forgiving, right?”

“Oh, true, it is.” At first, Ryoma was glad to see Kiran brighten a little and nod, having his own ideas of soup recipes on top as well. “Especially while I’m here to watch it anyways, I guess. Like Marx’s stew here. I just have to keep alternating it on high and medium-high usually, depending.”

“Medium-high….?” But even this wasn’t entirely safe either. At least both he and Marx figured a quick solution to it, however.

“Perhaps letting the flames grow or weaken can help. How fast are you expected to alternate?”

“Uuh… right away? I guess it takes a while for the stove to alter the heat’s strength, but we’re fairly quick about adjusting it sometimes.”

“Do people from your world cook with an elfire tome? That’s a little too…”

Kiran sighed and shook his head. If any case, the three realized this would not be such a simple matter to improvise with after all. Even if it was, it wasn’t something they could tutor Kiran right away to do. 

Still, Kiran was in better spirits. He was happy they were willing to try to help at all.

Eventually, the stew finished cooking, and while waiting on it to rest, they gathered dishes not just for the bowls they set aside to eat with right away, but more dishes to pack the rest of the stew away across their three convoys for later. Settling to eat together, Kiran initially perked up in seeing Shiro and Siegbert in the distance and initially wanted to try to get their attention, especially when he and Ryoma realized that Marx was the only one of the three not to have spent much of any time with them on their own. However, it was Marx himself who immediately stopped the two, especially as he pointed out the way both princes seemed to be in high spirits speaking to other heroes. 

“There’ll be plenty of time for me to get to know them. For now, let them be. They seem happy for the moment, and I can wait.”

So both of them relented. They took in the break they had for all its worth, and they were happy the two tried to put their best foot forward to try to get to know more than just their parents. When the princes both wandered off elsewhere to see what else Askr had to offer, the three of them slipped away to try to spend more time together back in their dorm to relax, catch up, and perhaps even breech a few subjects when they were all settled.

At least, that was the initial plan.

After spending much of the day holding their heads high and pressing on with their days, both Ryoma and Marx tried to carry themselves like everything was normal, whether they had a moment of reprieve, or had to force it otherwise through sheer will.

Behind closed doors with just the three of them, however, it was a different story. The moment the two let their guards down to rest, both of them collapsed into their nest with hardly much care or thought in what they wore beyond at least stripping out of their armor before collapsing. Both of them varied between groans and soft moans, trying desperately to keep the stew down, even if it meant being completely at Kiran’s mercy.

“A-are the two of you gonna be alright?” Kiran had a bit of an easier time to be a bit pickier of what he wore, and still had a bit of energy to fuss over the little things around the room. He could see Marx left his work in a neat, tidy stack at the desk, ready and waiting for Laslow to take them whenever, but the kings themselves were both ready to call it a night even at sunset. As Kiran moved into the nest to check on them, he heard soft moans of protest, of which, only Marx was willing to outright speak up.

“Please don’t shift around too much on the bed…”

“Haa… That bad, huh?” He reached over to fuss over them. “You both can put up quite an act earlier, but… do you really need to? It’s not good pushing yourselves to a point like this…”

“Can we talk about this later…?” While he managed to get even Ryoma to speak up as well, neither of them were up to explain themselves much. “I don’t… we can’t right now- _ ulp.” _

He had to cover his mouth. He hated how quickly the feeling could come and go either, but it was what it was. He tried to take deeper, stronger breaths, but he tried to follow Marx’s example of laying as low as possible and trying to breathe their ways out of possibly hurling everything they ate on their nest. With Kiran remaining in place in the nest, it thankfully didn’t jostle them further, but they were far from thrilled how the rougher sides to this would catch them in such unpredictable times.

“Haa… Well, guess now’s a good time as any…”

He saw the way both of them focused on him. Marx was initially about to ask him what he meant when both of them noticed something warm radiating from Kiran’s hands. He looked like he was concentrating, but also somewhat nervous of something. At the same time, before either of them braved the effort to ask, there was a strong, calming feeling that subtly snuck up on them, right before a wave of relief washed over them. It was soothing, and the heavy grip of their nausea gradually eased, and then dissipated.

This alone would’ve been more than enough for them, as surprising as it was. Except Kiran didn’t stop. When their morning sickness had entirely disappeared, Ryoma felt the ache in his body from his earlier training melt further, and Marx felt his strain from his pent up stress ease off. When Kiran finally pulled away, both were healthy enough to sit up, initially surprised yet thankful for what the summoner did.

“Kiran, how did…?”

“Soren taught me after Anna’s lessons~” 

He chirped happily at the sight of the two having more color to their earlier pale faces, and moreso at watching the two sit up. With clear evidence that his healing worked, he was even more relieved to share the surprise that he could do so at all.

“That was quite a bit you did for us all of a sudden. Are you feeling alright…?” It was a blessing, and Marx was grateful, but as older brothers to healers, Marx hesitated in wondering how Kiran could heal them to such an extent without a stave. Even Ryoma was starting to have his own suspicions following him.

“Yeah! I’m fine! Completely fine~!” And initially, he was truthful with his words and tried to reassure them.

At least, until the warning signs started to show.

Kiran swayed a little as he remained sitting up. Unconvinced, Marx watched him and stared him down, still not quite believing him that he’d be fine. When the summoner figured the sudden fatigue was just a side effect to using healing magic, he was quickly corrected when the muscles in his body started aching, and he felt a pounding headache all of a sudden, both of which he took from his spouses on top of the morning sickness.

When the morning sickness itself caught up, and in twice the potency in Kiran, Marx was justified in his heavy distrust, but more in the form of both him and Ryoma watching Kiran quickly collapse onto their nest.

* * *

_ “Idiot!” _

Even when the two kings scrambled out of bed, and initially had every intention to go find a healer, they ran into Soren just as he was about to pass by their door down the halls. They barely had to get a few words in before Soren heavily groaned and already held his suspicions, following them in and treating Kiran himself.

“But… but Ranulf’s ear…” Kiran’s tone was sluggish and he still felt exhausted and winded from the sudden massive dip in his health, but to the relief of his lovers, Soren got to him in time not to suffer quite too long for his latest stunt. Unlike Kiran, however, Soren used his stave on him as he focused.

“What did I tell you before?! When in doubt, use a stave! Especially when whatever magic is running through Askr is going to keep it from breaking anyways! You only heal  _ minor _ problems directly!”

Kiran wanted to protest, but all he could get out was a rather unfortunate hiccup.

“Did you really think morning sickness was minor? And taking two doses of it, no less?! And this muscle strain and tension headache… If you were going to heal that much, at least remember to vent out such ailments before you wind up taking it into your own body! That’s what the stave would’ve been used for as an off-set!”

Kiran sighed, but weakly nodded, taking in the scolding. But despite Soren speaking fairly harshly, and being visibly cranky with him, when he was finished with healing him, he was surprisingly gentle in the way he felt the summoner’s forehead and cheek, just to be sure he was primed to recover.

“Haa, you are such a careless fool sometimes… Get some rest for the day.”

“Oh Kiran…” As much as Soren had his own ways to show his worries, harsh as they may be, Marx and Ryoma were a bit gentler. After all, he tried to help them, even if Kiran’s impulsive nature didn’t exactly leave much room to think things through. Marx reached over to rub gentle circles along Kiran’s back, but the most the summoner did was make very faint murmurs as he otherwise remained laying down in the nest. “Our apologies, Soren. He was trying his best to help us and we may have frightened him into acting so rash.” Marx might’ve been embellishing, but he tried his best to soften the situation. So it surprised him when Soren glared to him next.

“He should be better by morning. At least now he knows. As for you, Xander,  _ you _ should be getting more rest as well. With that kind of tension headache, it’ll dull your senses to keep up the way you do.” 

To Soren’s credit, he was still  _ trying _ to show he cared for more than just his lovers, but it was still a rather rough show of it. As frustrated as he was of Kiran in his demonstration of listening to him only partially in their lessons after all, he left the three to themselves, leaving Kiran with his lesson well-learned now. 

The two of them were left tucking Kiran into their bed and fussing over him just enough until they were certain he would be fine. As refreshed as they were in their health, the two still didn’t quite think to leave the room or rush off to change their earlier minds to retire, but instead, stripped down and into cozier, simpler clothes while remaining at the nest. At least Kiran helped them revisit their plans to have a talk, but despite Kiran falling asleep quickly enough not to join them completely, Ryoma thought maybe that was for the best after all, in this case.

Among the things Siegbert and Shiro taught him about Kiran’s phone, they made it clear that he should probably not show that same content to Kiran himself. Or at the very least, not until they had read everything there was to read. As unexpected as it was to have Kiran suddenly opt himself out of this, it  _ did _ leave quite the opening to discuss what they said with Marx, even if it left him feeling guilty to keep such from him.

So he tried to tell him all he remembered from the training grounds. He tried to show him not just the phone, but the instructions their sons gave him. 

“Ryoma…” And more importantly, he told Marx about the heavier warning they gave Ryoma. He was their only parent, and Marx and Kiran died before either of them got to know them. As much as Marx also knew the importance to what Ryoma wanted to show him, he worried moreso for what was running in Ryoma’s mind. The samurai was trying desperately to carry such a muted look and tone to him, but  _ because _ he was trying so hard, Marx knew deep down that Ryoma was scared.

“I can’t lose either of you… No matter how painful, if there is a way to protect both of you, I want to know it. But I thought this would be important to share with you as well, Marx. Perhaps if both of us read it together, we’d be a united front to prevent that future from happening here, too…” Reading between the lines, however, even thought Ryoma tried his best to frame it that he wanted to bear the majority of the burden, Marx knew the real message buried under Ryoma’s pride and self-sacrificing thoughts was that he wanted Marx to help lend his strength to him through this, but hesitated to be too desperate to ask. Given what was at risk, he was less prideful to admit they should probably get all the help they could.

“And you will have my help. Whatever I can provide, it is yours as well. You know that.” It went without debate or question, except for one part. “But… Are you certain we should keep this from Kiran?”

“It’s what they warned. At least, keep it until we’ve first read it. For now, let him rest. He’s here, and he’s safe beside us.”

“Oh very well… For now at least… Let’s see here…”

So the two huddled up beside one another to look to the phone, especially as Ryoma retraced the steps toward reaching the tab Siegbert left open from before. With a sigh, he tapped it to bring up a file similar to what Siegbert read earlier of Kiran’s journal entry earlier in the day, showing to them the insecurities he had about their dragon forms, the kids, among other things. This wasn’t the right folder, but the princes both pointed it out as much where to look for it, and Ryoma wanted to prepare Marx first with where the two originally left off.

Marx immediately tensed when he realized rather quickly why they warned them against showing it to Kiran. Ryoma seemed even more tense than when he started, but rather than get too upset, he seemed even more melancholy and almost entirely as if he resigned to it all, painful as it may be.

“Is this Kiran’s journal? This feels so…” Was this right? No matter the raw truth to his feelings, Marx hesitated to pry so openly. Ryoma sighed, although his reservations (or possible lack thereof) wasn’t quite as clear.

“They hadn’t read all of it either. Not exactly… It was only this and one other note further back. Still, there was quite a bit they were willing to share with me about Kiran. And… the warnings, otherwise…”

“Share what about him exactly…? There was something more than his journals?”

“Apparently, his name was Elias. It was his real name all along.”

“I see…”

“...Why did he never tell us…? Especially given  _ your _ name. Does he not trust us? All this time and he never-”

“Don’t be so hasty, Ryoma.  _ Please… _ We don’t know for sure if that name was a pleasant one to him or not. He could’ve hidden it because it brought him terrible memories.”

“Shiro and Siegbert both suggested otherwise…” He sighed. Combined with Kiran’s concerns, Ryoma had his doubts weigh on his mind quite stubbornly. It was Marx who just as stubbornly tried to give him a proper chance.

“Then we’ll ask him directly of it later, when he’s well. But we still don’t know the full story of it. I’m just as fine being called ‘Xander’ just as I am with ‘Marx’, but that doesn’t make ‘Xander’ any less painful to me even if I could grin and bear it. And we need to handle this delicately if you truly want an explanation about ‘Elias’ without breaking his trust in us completely.”

Ryoma sighed. Marx was right, and he knew he had a point, but he still was upset of all these thoughts Kiran wouldn’t share with them outright. Especially when they were thoughts he thought he resolved with them before.

“But his thoughts are right here. If we could just wake him up and-”

“If you do that, I promise you that he would not be nearly so candid of it ever again. And he might even withdraw into himself again if you push this too harshly, Ryoma. We are already breaking quite a bit of his trust as it is to look at this at all.”

“But that future-”

“Yes. I know. I am aware it’s an unfortunate means to an end if we are to learn what Siegbert and Shiro couldn’t tell us directly. But at least promise me this much before we continue: Whatever we read next, however Kiran may be feeling, don’t hold it against him, and especially don’t try to confront him of it. They were clearly never meant for our eyes in the first place.”

He huffed. Looking past Marx and off to the side, he watched Kiran as he continued to sleep, completely oblivious to what went on. The summoner may have shifted a bit and snuggled up in his sleep, but he showed no signs of stirring otherwise. 

He tried to take in Marx’s words, and as selfish as his thoughts were on his own approach of all this, he nodded in settling beside Marx with the phone.

“Thank you…” It was about as good as Marx could get right then. He knew as much. “If it was truly something we need to speak to him over, there are ways we can push the subject without necessarily outing ourselves. But for now, while we can, let’s assess this situation for what it is. We can save deeper discussions for later.”

“...Fine…”

With a gentle peck to Ryoma’s forehead, Marx settled beside him as well. With what Ryoma taught him, he backed out of the current file, and in looking over all the other files in the actual folder, they knew there was quite the backlog of things before this time and after. But Kiran gave them the energy to stay up far and well into the night, and they had all the time to read it together, for better or worse.


End file.
